The Hearts
by Moony92
Summary: Kingdom heartssailor moon. Riku journeys to a new world in hopes of finding Kairi's heart, discovering something much more than he bargained for instead. Sora and co. are lost in a mysterious Warp Hole. Soon they find the exact same thing. UPDATE OMFG!
1. Chapter 1: the Secret Garden

This was supposed to be for Feb. 14, but i'm a little too late for that so i'm just gonna put it in chapters. I would like to remind you that i am not really much of an author so flame me if you like, and point out my mistakes if you wish it. I usually like to be a critic, not a writer. well, this fic was inspired by playing the game and looking up a lot of information about KH2. Hope you enjoy...

**I don't own anything.**

**_THE HEART s_**

Earth was noticeably beautiful. The blue, white, brown and green third rock from the sun was oblivious to its admirers on the moon, and surprisingly other planets as well. Two certain planets, Mars and Uranus, were not as keen on the fantasies and wonders of the earth though.

Upon the ivory marbled balcony, with its elegantly carved balustrade, she watched that one certain planet. Staring wistfully, she wondered—like every other moments she had spent watching the earth—if it was as daring and adventurous as they said it was. And if it was twice as dangerous.

She stood regal, so stiff it gave a dull pain on her back. The melancholy hidden within her eyes were veiled behind the majestically impassive façade she put on; straight lips, beautifully solemn eyes, and leveled brows.

She stared down for a brief moment, down at the ethereally empty fields of the garden labyrinth. And there she saw a gloomed silhouette flash through the pillar halls—but of whom?

"Serenity…" The soft-spoken word was sudden. Someone had invaded her personal space quite silently before that certain someone decided to speak. She turned, slowly, to stare fully into her mentor—her mother. "Yes?" She questioned, although with very little interest. Her mother faintly smiled.

Serenity watched as the Queen of Lunarians stared into the exit of the veranda, and on the boisterous ball within it. Her mother was favoring her to go into that ball to at least converse with her friends, if not suitors. Selenity asked as a mother, not a methodical queen.

She nodded promptly. Grabbing two handfuls on the hem of her dress and picking it up so to hover slightly over the pristine floor, she strutted towards the glass exit doors of the balcony. There she found the four royal princesses' of their respective planets.

"Princess Serenity, I see you have been staring at that _rock_ again…" stated the princess of Mars. Serenity faintly scowled. "It is not a rock, Reye, but the _earth_," she corrected, sounding as if she were speaking to a child. Reye did not hide her scowl all as much.

The princess of Uranus, and oldest of the planetary princesses, frowned. She was not too fond of the third rock, but she was not going to admit it, especially in the presence of the Lunar Princess. "Stop, both of you," She gently told them.

Reye could tell an order when she heard one, no matter how soothing the tone; after all, her planet is universally renowned for strategic war and order. She, quite grudgingly, looked away as to avoid any more quarrying.

Mina, princess of Venus, smiled energetically. "Well, since no one seems to consider asking you…" She glanced sharply towards Amara and Reye, "do you know what day it is?" Serenity drew her brows together. "No…" She seemed unsure if that was the right answer.

Mina's youthful expression dropped instantly, and she could only gawk. This was the very time for the princess of Mars to, yet again, interrupt. She rolled her eyes. "What kind of Lunarian are you? You should be more systematic," She muttered scathingly.

Serenity gave a mixed look, not wanting to glare in public. She was not as defiant as Reye to attempt such a thing in the open. It wasn't expected for alady of the moon. "You are impossible Reye," She murmured, gazing out towards the marble balcony she had once stood on with a pensive look.

Mina cleared her throat outwardly, catching all three royalties' eyes. She gave a jovial smile, and said, "As I was saying, today is the month of February," in her most joyful of tones.

Reye, fully intending to annoy the Princess of Venus and self-proclaimed Goddess of Love, snickered noticeably. "And…?" She inquired, as if she was not impressed at all—which truly she wasn't. Mina glowered, and replied, "_And_ it is the month of love, Valentine!"

Amara stared sharply at Reye, her eyes daring the Martian princess to say another comment of sarcasm. Reye did not say a word after that. And at Reyes' evident silence, Mina ranted on without any objections or bad-mannered remarks.

"The day of valentine is on earth too," Mina crooned, her face flushed in a daze, "It was my ancient Venusians ancestors' culture, and somehow it had migrated to earth!" Reye grimaced as Mina continued on. Serenity seemed to simply watch the pointless scene unfold with polite interest, like a "good princess" would do.

"Perhaps, princess Ami and Lita would love to hear your planets' history?" Reye suggested, straining to keep from showing any sign of impoliteness. Mina did not seem to notice this strain, and perked up in thrill. Ami was one for history, and when Lita and she would ever be put in the same ballroom it was sure to be interesting.

"You are _so_ right!" She exclaimed, and glanced at her sides for any sign of the princesses of Mercury and Jupiter. Spotting them at the punchbowl close to a thick pillar, she dashed towards them with an enthusiastic outstretched arm for a wave of greeting.

The moment she was out of earshot, Reye sighed dramatically. "My _Goddess_," She scoffed, "I thought she would never stop!" Amara frowned. She was not too keen on Mina's nagging either, but she knew how to keep tolerant like the composed elder princess she was. Only as a soldier would she keep herself impassive and humorless—and a lot less patient.

Serenity couldn't really comment on Mina's sayings. She was not familiar with valentine, or whatever it was truly named. Something about love—that was obvious, for Mina had said the certain word in one sentence five times.

-

The ballroom was kept high, upstairs so to have a grand view of the fireworks and the night sky itself. She had run off from the ball, and now leaned idly on the huge marble pillar halls just beside the garden labyrinth.

It was often named the Secret Garden, for its amazing trapdoors and even treasures of gold and silver. The garden had been on the moon for beyond decades, created by one of her many old ancestors. It had once been a simple shrub, but over the years the previous queens of the moon had nurtured it firsthand. Now her mother was often seen in the garden, helping the gardeners as Serenity watched from the hidden trapdoors she used since a child to spy on.

The pillars were large in length and width. Fifty times as big as she and thousand more times as tall, carved elegantly to look as if cherubs were circling it, there arrows ready to fire.

She traced her fingers on the carved cherubs' baby faces. Truthfully, she was not sure what a cherub was. They looked like nude baby angels with a cutely stylish bow and arrows, in her opinion.

She never really knew that much of the outside world. Even the planets of her trusted friends she had never step foot on.

"The stars are a little dim, aren't they?"

The profound voice seemed uncomfortably close, with the heated breath tickling at her nape. She gasped, and then whipped around to see who had spoken. All she could see was the pillar she had been leaning her back on. Slowly, she turned around with a quiet sigh of relief—

And then there was a figure that blocked her view…

She would have screamed her lungs out, if not for the strangers' sudden and apparent smile. It brazenly portrayed the strangers' ivory-white teeth, but the sapphire eyes outshined all. Even as the leaning hood that hid midway of the strangers' face, those eyes were still seen and ablaze.

She pressed her back against the pillar again, wanting to be as far from the tall figure as she could, despite the strangers' welcoming grin.

A stray of silver fell from within the hood to shine by what little light the stars could offer. The figure had silver hair from what she could tell in her current viewpoint. She could only suppose the stranger was a he, because of his stance and the tone he had spoke in previously—not to mention the obvious muscle that shone from his tight leather-black coat.

He towered over her, like most men and even women would. She was short, but it was use to for a fourteen-year-old princess.

His smile simmered down till it appeared teasingly apologetic. "Uh, sorry," He said, placing a hand on his nape out of mock sheepishness, "Where are my manners, princess?" He bowed low, almost playfully. "The names' Riku…" He threw back his hood to reveal a boyish facial feature, no older than fifteen or so.

Serenity was not pleased, but it was required to keep composed—unless, he was ever a threat. She eyed the boy, Riku, with narrowed blue eyes. He smirked this time, and lifted his brows in amusement. "What? Did I not bow low enough?" He mocked good-humouredly.

Serenity wanted to smile, but kept her jaws set. It was not often when someone would make a sarcastic humor in the presence of her, or most importantly her and her mother. She was vulnerable to smiles and giggle fits, for holding it in for so long.

"State your business," She asked, rather than ordered. He turned around till she could only see his backside. "Just looking around…" He uttered indifferently, "This world is the most beautiful I've have seen, so far."

Riku stared at the stars, those dim and flickering stars. "Look, princess. A star shower," He muttered, looking over his shoulder. She had long before caught sight of the falling stars, and could only gape by awestruck.

"It won't be long. They will be here soon enough," He said, as if to himself. Serenity sharply heard his words, and felt bewildered. "They?" She thought aloud. Riku stared at her suddenly, and turned so they were face to face. "The heartless," He informed her softly. Serenity did not care for heartless. She figured him to be a boy with too many hallucinations.

"I like this place…" He said suddenly—after the long awkward silence—his back turned yet again. Serenity stared at him, bemused. She did not answer that comment, for he seemed to forget she was there and talk to himself. "It's too bad though." He sighed and turned to look at her again, a wistful look creasing his brow.

"Too bad?" She asked again. He did not answer this time but stared at her, his eyes fixed at her eyes. She fidgeted unnervingly at the awkward stare.

"What are you staring at?" She couldn't help but ask, and was appalled at the visible anger in her tone. She leaned back even deeper on the pillar, her back feeling a faint ache from the rigid curves.

He smiled, to her surprise. "Feeling jittery," He more than asked, but stated mockingly, "Are you afraid of a boy only a year older than you, princess?" The statement had taken her by surprise, and anger.

"_What_?" She gritted, "I assure you 'kind' sir, I am _not_ afraid of you. In fact, you should be in prison for acting in such a way within the likes of me." She wanted to gag at her tone. She sounded frighteningly like her mother.

Riku laughed. "Oh, I am _so_ scared." He crooned in sarcasm. She flushed, purely out of anger. "Sir…" She toned warningly, "How dare you!"

Serenity suddenly whipped around, her hair flipping to slap the older teen across the face. She ignored the elegant pillar as she was forced to strut around it.

Riku rubbed his sore jaw tenderly. The thick pigtails of her golden hair had hit him, hard. "Ow," He muttered, having the air of a bewildered young boy…

-

He stared curiously upon his stiff seat from behind. The ship was uncomfortably small, making him feel irritably impatient throughout the whole trip.

Goofy, a peculiar talking dog that stood on two legs, was sitting in the front passenger seat of the small ship. An irascible white duck, Donald, sat at the drivers' seat, his expression petulantly solemn.

"Are we there yet?" He asked suddenly. Goofy looked over his shoulder from his seat. "Not much further," The gentle knight informed cheerfully.

He shrugged lower into his seat. To him it felt like his doggy friend was giving quite a white lie. He didn't want to believe it was the truth from the pace they were going.

"Are you sure?" He asked, almost whined, and turned to glance at the rigid white duck. As if the duck knew the boy stared at him, Donald muttered, "Look, Sora, just sit tight and _wait_." The ringing irritation was so clear in Donald's tone that the duck could hear it himself.

Sora let himself fall back-first on the small seat, groaning in regret as he felt the dull pain from the tough bumps of it. "Owie…" He sat up straighter, and soon continued to stare into space, literally.

It was only five minutes later when he sighed dramatically. They were heading to Traverse Town, to inform Cid of their Gummi ship. The exterior was totaled catastrophically, but fortunately inside was well enough to drive…

"Look, what's that?" The alerted voice of Goofy hollered. Sora sharply looked up, but it was an awkward sight of what he saw. He let his eyes squint so to see well. Ahead of them was a faint something… It looked rather like a whirlpool of mist.

Donald tried to steer away, thrusting the wheel sideways drastically. "A warp hole?" The duck exclaimed angrily, incredulously. Sora gripped on the edge of his seat so not to fall, as the Gummi ship attempted to swerve away. The hole was terrifyingly too huge to avoid.

"Were all doomed!" Goofy cried in frantic, but was cut short from his sobs as Donald whacked him upside the head. "Shut up," He ordered, hastily and desperately trying to manage the ship.

Sora's voice vibrated with the vigorously shaking ship, "What's happening!" He now held on to the whole seat itself. "A warp hole," Donald cried over the loud thundering, "It's very dangerous!" The warp hole glittered like a misty white crystal, a very dangerous white crystal.

Sora felt as if he were being stripped apart as the Gummi ship entered the hole. Atom after atom of there beings stretched into their soon-to-be death, which incidentally is a hole, till the ship was sucked in entirely.

He blacked out.

-

He ran after her, intent on an apology. How could he have known that women were too emotionally fragile in this world?

Perhaps the reason was of him being use to toying with other worlds so much that it made him too arrogant? Pinocchio was easy to manipulate, so—

"Wait," Riku cried out.

Serenity ran, ignoring her name being called for. The boy was not going to getaway with his antics. She was not at all fond of him for it. Riku reminded her so much of that pompous excuse of a prince, Endymion of earth.

_Damn my dress, it's too low to the floor._ She fell with that notion propped into her thoughts. But, just as she expected to fall face-first on the marble ground, there was an immediate stop. She felt herself being held by trim arms and crutched on a toned chest.

Her eyes met the boy of her nightmares. "Riku…" She uttered his name for the first time since she met him, "How…?" Serenity looked over her shoulder. She was utterly certain that he had been behind her a moment before.

Riku fidgeted under the added weight. He stared at the girl that gotten both of them in the rather awkward position. How could he apologize in this uncomfortable point of view? Before he could think, she got up to sit on his stomach. "Eh…" He chuckled, and Serenity's eyes narrowed at his apparent nervousness.

She stood easily, towering over the fallen silver-haired youth with the most intense glower he had ever seen. At that precise moment Riku felt pathetically small, and he hated it at once.

She detested him already. To say she was embarrassed, flushed, angry, and depressed would certainly not be enough. And happy was _way_ off the category that was her feelings.

"Err… sorry." The apology almost came out questionable, Serenity noticed. To be the Lady that she was raised to be (Having strict educators cram every polite subject into her poor defenseless memory) she offered him a hand.

Riku was taken aback from the significantly kind gesture. He could've sworn the petite girl was ready to kill him just by a glance. Her blue eyes hinted at so much, it was almost frightening.

Serenity became uncharacteristically impatient for a princess. She raised a brow. "Well, do you want a hand or not?" but the emotion was gone in a blink.

She kept her arm stretched out and waiting, and he stared at that slender hand for a lengthy moment. His eyes trailed up to look her in the face, to notice every elegant feature, to notice the beauty of the deepest of blue eyes.

And then she jerked her arm away, her actions signifying she had been startled. His uncomfortably scrutinizing gaze was wavered instantly, and he looked away into the distance, his expression blank. His stare was what drew her aback, was what made her so suddenly bewildered and flushed.

Riku thrust his legs up, and was standing gracefully in seconds. He avoided looking at her, and he was sure she was doing the same with him.

"Who are you? A lunarian outlander…?"

The unnerving silence was gone faster than he first expected. Riku blinked, and he looked at her. _Outlander…?_ He thought briefly. Serenity noticed his puzzlement. She saved him the trouble of asking and stated, "So, you're not an outlander." He still stared, cautiously thinking of what to say.

"Are you from earth?" Her voice seemed so desperately hopeful, he almost cringed in pity. He stared at her, mainly in faint surprise. "Yes…" He hid his uncertainty. _So, they have an earth here…Feh, and I thought the big blue thing in the sky was just an unknown planet…_ He mused mentally.

She grabbed him by the arm, tightly. "Then your not suppose to be here!" She said in panic. He was confused. Didn't she sound hopeful a moment ago?

"If an earthling was to ever trespass on the moons border, they would be _beheaded_ when pleaded guilty." She stated angrily. She could've send the guards on him, could've simply screamed for help, and Riku would have been executed in minutes—

_So why isn't she?_ Riku wondered that moment, though the sudden news made him very much alert. He stood rigid, ready to step back and follow her warnings, and was about to run…

"Lady Serenity…?" The voice was cried out, but faint. From across the long hallway there stood a tall man, clad in silver steeled armor.

"You humans!" She whispered harshly, "Why do you always act so idiotic! Are you that stupidly daring?" She grabbed his wrist and ran, making sure that both were hidden from the guards view. "How the heck do you guys transport to the moon anyway?" The pillars were large enough to shield both of them from view.

"Princess!" the voice grew fainter as they ran.

She led him to the Secret Garden, and they were soon in the maze. Riku frowned, "Why?" Serenity turned to him when she heard his question. "Why what?" She asked, not quite understanding.

"Why did you lead me here, to safety…?" He paused, and then added, "Why did you _want_ to save me?" Serenity walked through the maze, and Riku did nothing but follow, for he did not know the artistically created labyrinth.

"I know how you humans can get stubborn sometimes. I don't think it's fair that we have to kill you to teach you a lesson…" She did not attempt to glance at him over her shoulder, but continued, "We were once peaceful, but your earth has been demanding, wanting to partake in the Silver Alliance."

"Why can't you just let them—err, _us_ be in your alliance?" He countered mildly. He noticed her stressful sigh. "It's not quite simple. I have to wed someone of royal blood from the earth to obtain peace, if not alliance…" She took in a pouting look, "And there is no way I will ever love that pompous prince."

Riku listened closely, feeling sorry for the petite girl already. "Hey," He started hesitantly, "How do we get out of here?" He could've jumped high and over the towering bush walls, but if the girl would ever see such a thing it could give him quite a dilemma.

She looked over her shoulder to stare at him, and smiled. He was surprised, to put it simpler. Riku had already guessed the girl to be solemn and humorless. And the sudden news that she could smile caught him uncharacteristically by surprise—incidentally, it was quite a beautiful smile.

"Sorry if I'm making it seem that it's entirely earths fault. I don't really think that. Like you said, we could've simply let the earth be a part of the Silver Alliance." She sighed, out of sadness or frustration Riku wasn't quite sure.

Music was heard. Both stared up instantly at the place of which the soft melody resided. High above and up on the balcony where Serenity once stood, within it was the ball and their music as loud for them to hear. She grinned. "I love this song," She murmured, staring up at the unseen place from which the music came.

The crisis she was put with seemed to be forgotten, and she smiled, her legs swaying gently to go with the tune. She hummed the tune, completely forgetting the boy that silently watched with no musings of letting him be acknowledged again.

Riku watched, almost awed, but mainly bewildered. "Beautiful…" He breathed. Whether the remark was meant for the heavenly melody from above or the stunning girl who danced before him, it is up to you. Either reason, he was still amused and doting over it like a little boy would fond over a new toy. Totally being out of character…

Instantly, he felt he actually made a friend within his journey. Something he had failed to attempt or even notice since the day he boldly met the darkness...

-

-

Uh, yeah... This thing may not make sense. Riku _is_ OOC, but then again he's never met Serenity or any other lunarian before, eh? the romance may take too fast though, because this fic was intended to be only one page. I'll update, if you review!


	2. Chapter 2: the Bath

heh, heh... It seems that i don't have many reviews. thats fine with me though, because i was expecting it the day i posted this thing. though, one certain rieview was inspiring enough to post the second chap real soon. so, here it is. My personal thanks for SachiNyoko, for she was that certain reviewer! I would like to say that i enjoy your fics as well, and i hope you continue them with confidence! Yeah, well, please mind my mistakes if any.

**Idon't own anythin'... **(**sighs**)

chapter two: The Bath...

_The coconut palm swayed too and fro in duet with the mild wind, its short lavender and yellow leaves vibrating steadily. Saltwater waves placidly pushed against the sand and shell covered shore. _

"_Hey, Riku…?" He stared downward curiously. His friend was crouched down, picking idly on a young palms' deep green leaf, as if testing the palm's sturdiness. _

_Riku did not look up at him, as if ignoring his brunette friend. But he answered, "Yeah Sora?" And stopped his activity briefly, letting go of the leaf. Sora moved his hands to lie indolently on his nape, and stretched, "What's this?" He gestured with his forefoot at the palm Riku was playing with. _

_The palm was merely two feet high, with pale-grey bark and short jade leaves. Sora could make out small banana-yellow buds just ready to bloom. "It's a paopu tree," Riku muttered, his eyes fixed on the small palm. "Oh," Sighed Sora, casually. _

"_I planted it a month ago," Riku explained, "It took awhile to grow, but I made sure it's healthy. You can tell by the really green leaves." The silver-haired youth was a bit irritated, for the lush plant was quite a hard work. But it ended out greatly, having the palm already growing faster than he had expected. _

"_Cool," Sora uttered, "And all by yourself? Why didn't you tell me? I could've helped!" He felt deflated that his own closest friend had not even bother to mention his project. _

_Riku ignored Sora's incredulous remark. He gestured to the blooming buds on the small palm, "See there…" Sora turned to stare at the palm, too. "That's a paopu flower. It will take awhile, but this tree will grow, and bear fruit." Riku stared up at the sky, transfixed. _

_Sora followed the boys' stare, and stared up as well. High above the clouds, on the darker side of the lit sky, there suspended the faintly gleaming full moon. "Whoa…" He breathed, staring up with a shimmer of awestruck. _

_Riku folded his arms across his chest heedlessly. "When a moon is full and glowing even in the morning, it's called a 'wolfs moon'… I think." Sora's stare lingered till it was fixed on the older boy. He tilted his head more on one side, "Hey Riku, you ever wonder if someone's watching you? Like, up there?" He then stared up at the sky. _

_Riku lifted a brow, giving him a strange look. "Man, I told you eating too much cake icing would get to your head. That stuff could hit your brain hard." He shook his head, and then walked past the flushed Sora, heading to his home... _

His eyes opened at that precise moment, and he found himself lying on his stomach. And For that moment he did not bothered to move, savoring the chance to think, and to be alone. It was dark. The darkness soothed him, and pushed back the previous memories of both good and bad.

"Uh," He grunted, suddenly feeling the ache seem to pulsate within his head. The ground was soft, and he noted that he was lying on lush green grass, though slightly matted with moist. Too drained to presume to standing, he rolled over to lie on his back.

The stars were dim, but he soon panicked at the shower of them as they fell from the sky. It felt as if the windedness that was present with him had vanished. He jumped up to stand, but soon found himself tripping and having his face meet the grass.

"Owie…" He moaned. The predicament he was in wasn't too hard to exceed, could it? It happed to him many times before; he certainly could find a way out of this mess. He looked over the beautifully foreign surroundings, and found that it was a maze. "Wonderland?" He wondered aloud.

Sora shook his head. Wonderland did not have red roses snaking throughout the leafy confines that he was currently trapped in, they had only white roses. He knew, because he had unfortunately encountered the angry Queen of Hearts when she caught her guards painting her roses red.

"That was something I could never forget…" He grumbled helplessly, rubbing his gloved hand against his unruly russet hair.

"Meow…"

He jumped at the sudden mild, inhuman noise. Sora stared down sharply, and there he saw a cat, as black as the darkness itself. As he glanced closer, he noted the golden upturned crescent above the cats' furry brows. "Hey, little kitten…"

The cat stared at him with unearthly blood-red eyes. He began to fidget while he stood. Despite it being merely a simple young cat, minus the odd mark on the forehead, it was scary; scary in a way that screamed out mischievous.

"Um…" He looked elsewhere. Anywhere would be fine to avoid the kittens' stare, but the sight that caught his interest sent him breathless and stunned. A blue planet hovered above the dark sky, its surface swirling with white, green and brown vibrant colors.

"Whoa?" Sora let out the breath that was unconsciously restrained. The big blue planet looked terrifyingly identical to the earth. But, if that was the earth, than where was he?

His brows drew together as he strained to think of a sensible answer. He had seen quite a lot of odd and rule-bending things in his journey, so why be so surprised? That was a question that had been easily ignored for some reason.

"You shouldn't be here…"

He glanced up, down, and at both his sides, but there was no owner to the thickly accented voice. "Who's there? Show yourself!" He was directly alerted by the sudden voice, and reached for his weapon upon instinct.

The sheath that held his blade was gone and all he felt was the fabric of his short baggy parachute-shorts. "M-my keyblade!" He bellowed in his utmost horror, his voice uneven. The voice was heard again, "Keyblade?" It spoke curiously.

Sora had no time to acknowledge whatever or whomever that spoke. He ran across the small part of the maze as far as the length gave him, slashing his hands in the air so hard they were now two twin blurs on his sides. "No, no, _no_!" He cried in despair, "I can't loose it now! Donald's gonna kill me!"

If he were ever to continue his bawling, his voice would've broken spaces' silence itself. But, a certain young black cat was not going to tolerate his idiotic antic for long. Sora was cut short of his panic tantrum with a swift claw.

For a moment he blinked, thoroughly confused. Then he lifted his gloved hand to graze his cheek, which was carved narrowly with fourclaw prints. He willingly fell limp on his rear, and sat there, hand remaining on cheek.

"Thanks," He mumbled, "I needed that, Donald…"

"You're welcome, boy."

It was then that he remembered of the unknown voice, for that was surely not Donald's nasally little voice that almost seemed like a quack. It was the young, richly accented voice again. "Who's there," He groaned, too tired to shout any further.

And the cat lingered till it was at his feet, and he saw it smile, the smile only a cat could manage with the grin and eyes being lost within the silky ebony fur. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Luna," It spoke.

Of course! Why didn't he think of it before? His hand averted from tending to his sore cheek, and hit his forehead. "A talking cat," He muttered, as if scolding himself, "Sora, you're idiot…"

The cat, Luna, was almost surprised that the boy was not shocked, or at least declaring himself insane by now. "Are you alright?" She asked, as if he thinking a talking cat was normal did not count as sane.

Sora nodded. "Say, am I in wonderland?" He glanced down at the cat, who gave him an odd look. At this rate Luna was sure the boy was delusional, if not insane. "Whatever are you talking about, boy?"

"The names not _boy_, its Sora," He stated, ignoring her question. Luna backed away. "Where did you come from?" She asked, her ears perked in interest. Sora thought for a moment whether to trust her or not. After all, the last talking cat he had encountered annoyingly spoke in riddles and was suspiciously vague on subjects.

But, this cat was not Cheshire nor did it speak in riddles.

"Destiny Island," He began, "I got kind of lost when we entered this portal thingy with the Gummi ship, and…" His eyes widened as the obvious suddenly dawned on him. "Oh my gosh! Donald, and Goofy! Where are they!" He glanced around, the panic rising swiftly yet again.

"Calm down, Sora. It is pointless to scream, because in space no one can hear you..." Luna let her ears draw flat against her skull. She had never met a gentleman that was so—well _ungentlemanly_ was the proper way to put it, without any rash form of profanity.

"What am I gonna _do_!" He had calmed slowly, as Luna promptly continued to reassure him. Sora had been clenching a handful of his feral russet hair, a futile attempt to keep from having another panic tantrum.

"For _goddess_ sake, it can't be _that_ bad," Luna growled. For a moment—a very brief moment—she was considering of clawing the young boy again, purely out of frustration. She stared with a sudden, solemnly calm air. "Come with me. I shall show you to the queen." Luna smiled. "Oh, okay," He replied slowly. "Why?"

"For your trial, of course. You don't expect to trespass upon the royal gardens without punishment, do you, earthling?" She strutted off to a pathway in the maze. He froze at the comment. "_What_!"

No keyblade, no company, and a talking cat which Sora had already declared meaner than the Cheshire. What was a simpleminded keyblade-master to do?

-

The next day—or rather, night. The moon had virtually always been in darkness, only to experience light for brief and hollow days. But there were always the glimmer of white stars as company, and the earth. The moon itself was its own power for light, though gloomy and depressing was its eerily wan glow.

The deafening clang of metal against metal was sourced in the center of the maze, where the beautiful limestone statues and a crystal fountain resided. "Did you hear," the brunette asked, all the while continuing her onslaught towards her opponent.

The opponent, a young flaxen girl, dodged the assault reflexively. "Hear what?" She replied with her own question, lifting her rapier and lunging forward so to target the other girl. The brunette dodged it narrowly, attempting to lurch the flaxen girl with her platinum rod. It was easily ducked with a countering leap.

"This isn't getting us anywhere," The brunette pointed out, sighing. The flaxen girl froze in her nimbleness assaults, and stood rigid from her alerted sparing stance. "Lita, you're just saying that because I am winning…" She countered, smiling.

Lita fixed her gaze on the smaller girl sharply. "Oh yeah?" She challenged snickering, "you wanna bet, _princess_ Serenity?" This made her opponent alert, for she was not fond of the title.

Serenity shook her head, so not to have any more mischievous thoughts vigilant. "No," She sighed, and then looked directly onto Lita's face mildly, "What was it you asked me again?" She tried to recall the words that were past beforehand, but she was too into an adrenaline rush to completely concentrate.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot," Lita said, lightly striking a hand against her temple, "Your birthday present caught an earthling wondering the royal gardens the other day—err night." She corrected herself while she spoke.

Serenity froze, and she felt her breath restrain without her permission. "E-earthling?" She managed to stutter, after breathing in deeply form her absents of air. The action did not go unnoticed by the brunette of Jupiter. "Something wrong?" Lita asked. Serenity promptly shook her head, refusing.

"No. nothings wrong," She said, and then gave a faintly annoyed look, "And what do you mean by birthday present?" She folded her hands, an expecting sort of stance. "Luna, of course," Lita answered easily. "She had just arrived three days ago, and already she's causing mayhem!"

Serenity frowned. "No," She disagreed, though knowing full well that her kitten was very mischievous. "Besides, she's only six years old, um, in human years anyway." Lita shook her head, half amused, half disappointed.

"Shall we go?" she asked eagerly. "Yes…" Serenity murmured. "Though, I'll be leaving through a different pathway." This made the older girl smirk, "The secret pathways?" The flaxen nodded, grinning pearly whites. "Of course," She answered, as if it was the simplest of answers. Lita shrugged, walking to the center pathway of the leafy walls…

She wore a sleeveless ivory-cream blouse, and a checkered white-and-blue miniskirt. Her hair was let loose, bejeweled with two crystal butterfly clips on either side of her knee-length hair.

She headed for the trapdoors.

The first was within a white statue, the shape carved delicately into a dove. The other was within the crystal fountain, which was carved into a seraph. Many others were door-less frames matted with creeper plants like a flap.

The fountain was her favorite out of all, and that was what she chose. It led to the trapdoor of the bathing room…

-

He had met the queen, and was instantly awestruck. The woman was simply beautiful. Those passionate eyes of grayish-sliver and the fine full rosy lips that had seem to forever brilliantly smile back at him made him feel feeble. He had spoke to her as if he was a kindergartner speaking to the teacher he crushed over.

It turned out he was not in wonderland after all, and it was apparent for the queen was far sweeter than the Queen of Hearts—and did he mention beautiful?

As he mention the witlessly imaginative world, the woman had merely laugh, a laugh so silvery he had felt his knees noticeably buckle. He contemplated that prior event with wonder and fondness.

For a moment he plunged his whole body into the steaming waters. The dull heat that reddened his flesh made it harder to think, and he willingly let it. Sora did not want to think of beautiful women, and viewing such things in a bathing room was a bit odd, if not lecherous.

In water, one was virtually deafened within it. And that was precisely why Sora had not heard the creak of an old trapdoor on the corner beneath the red plush rugs. He only lay there, closing his eyes tightly and his breath controlled expertly.

Serenity peaked from her place beneath the rugs. It was clear in her current viewpoint, but something did not seem right…

The waters were steaming, she noticed, instead of there usual dryness when no one seemed to use the bathing rooms. Halfheartedly, she pushed forward the trapdoor, the rugs above it falling all together. She stepped out.

She was already drenched in sweat as it was from the previous spar, and the heat of white smoke made her even sweatier. There were only two explanations for this readied bath in front of her. One, someone was intent on using the room or had long done so, and, two, Lita knew that she would use the fountain trapdoor and told the servants to make it ready for her…

Both odds were within a fifty percent chance to become true. But what seemed more logical was that the bath had been used. She noted this fact while whipping her damp forehead with the rear of her hand. It was so annoyingly hot. Normally she adored saunas, but she was feeling too sweated to care.

"Since no one seems to use this," She snorted, "I'll just go ahead." She delicately lifted the hem of her shirt to go ever her shoulders and head, and then to be thrown toward the cornered hamper…

Sora had noticed numbly that he needed a little something, something very important. His eyes opened suddenly, and the boiling water burned them slightly. He needed _air_. And with that thought intent in his mind, he plunged his head upward.

Sora let out a loud, deep breath. He shook his head, droplets of water spewing from his damp russet hair. Then, he opened his eyes.

And at that very moment that he had decided to open those eyes, he nearly plunged right back into the bath. His eyes were as wide as they were when shocked. A girl in a short checkered skirt and strapless thunder-blue bra was his disturbingly interesting view.

The girl stared at him for what seemed to be too long for his liking. This made him uncomfortable—He was buck naked for crying out loud—and being in steamy water did not help too much but set it vague bellow the waist.

She let out the loudest screech he had ever heard, and hugged her upper torso protectively. "I am _so sorry_!" She screamed, turning around instantly. Sora had thought she was the queen from before, but soon found out easily that she was not. The girl was almost a clone of the older woman though, regardless of the deep blue eyes, shimmering golden hair, and faintly tanner skin.

At the precise time she had hugged herself, he had plunged only his body in the water to leave his head the only part visible. He didn't feel like responding to the girl right now, and the cause was _very_ reasonable.

-

-

Uh... (blinks) is this a cliff hanger? i think it is, but i'm not too sure. Like i said, i aint that much of a writer. heh, if this is a cliff hanger thingy than sorry.

oh, yes, and Luna's OCCness is very obvious in this chapter. the reason is i made her a kitten in this fic, because Serenity is practically a kid, too. plus it would show a side that no one ever really expected from Luna. maybe she wasnt always that strict back in the silver alliance. heh-heh, and the little meeting with Sora and Serenity in the bath was a bit akward, i don't really approve of it mysef, but my mind is an open desert just waiting for ideas...

Rieview, and i will update... buh-bye


	3. Chapter 3: the Aftermath of the Bath

Well, this is the third chapter. Focuses mainly on Sora/Serenity, with a slight mention of Riku. i hope this makes sense. I felt it was wierd. Eh, hope you like it! To me, this chapter is short, but its late and I have to make this fast! Anyway, I don't think that was a cliff-hanger in the second chapter. Its gonna be obvious.

**I don't own anything... **_canI stopmimicking myself now? PLEASE?_

Chapter 3: the Aftermath of the Bath

The night prior was instantly found out. Selenity was just as fortunate enough that rumors had not spread too greatly like their usual times. The prestigious woman had felt much more anger compared to this very moment, and that was precisely why she wasn't bawling her head off—at least not too much…

"How could he _do_ such a thing!" She screeched, "And to think I trusted the boy!"

Serenity rolled her eyes. "But, mum, I already told you! Nothing happened," She countered. The very thought made Serenity feel uncomfortable, and the fact that her own mother did not trust her made her inwardly depressed. Her mother paced through the room in wide steps, the skirt of her dress slapping against her legs.

"And do you expect me to believe it?" asked the Queen of the Moon, though her tone sarcastic. "Of course I do!" Serenity waved her arms above her out of frustration. Selenity shook her head, her eyes closed as a concentrated frown set her jaws. "Did he purposely walk in on you?" Serenity's jaws dropped to gape. "No! It isn't like that," She screamed, appalled. The added inward depression grew heavy. "I walked in on him…"

Selenity gasped, her hand moving to swathe her lips. "By _accident_," Serenity added promptly, lividly. Her mother had the right to be suspicious—she had just turned fourteen only four days ago.

"Mum, you are being overprotective! And that over protectiveness is making you less of a queen. You never think straight when it concerns me and the opposite sex. Remember when I asked you where babies come from…?" Selenity lifted her hand, and her daughter stopped speaking dutifully.

"I do not need my own child to tell me how to rule," The queen pouted, "I have my better judgment, and you will never counter that." But Serenity replied, "I am no child…and the only reason people do not counter your judgments is because you're the queen! Lunarians are that stupid." That might had been too hurtful.

But the queen was not fazed. Despite her being the prominent Queen of the Silver Alliance, Selenity huffed, and pointed a finger to the door, "Go to your room, young lady!" Serenity instantly turned to leave, pounding her feet against the marbled ground at every step she took.

Serenity eagerly opened the door and just as quickly slammed it behind her, leaned on it, and slid downward as her knees buckled. She sighed, letting her mind linger back to the good times. Remembering good things were what kept her from anger, what kept her shielded from the prying darkness. "Riku…" she mumbled, the tone so low it could have been considered silence.

"You okay…?"

The voice instantly drew her out of her thoughts, and sadly splashing back into reality. Serenity looked up, seeing the boy from the baths. She nervously blushed, quickly looking downward upon the suddenly interesting tiles. She shakily stood up, but almost immediately and miserably tripped all together. With a squeak of a scream, she landed in the boys' arms. He had caught her with no choice, but automatically did so in faint concern.

For a moment they merely stared at one another, him looking down at her and her looking up at him, both in hushed shock. The brief moment was over as they drew back quickly, staring at anything but the person in front of them.

He rubbed at his nape with one gloved hand. It was a nervous habit he had developed over the years, and did not seem to stop that habit anytime soon. "Um, I kinda heard everything in there…" He glanced at her with an apologetic smile, "Sorry about that."

Serenity looked up at him, confusion creasing her brows. "Sorry?" She could tell her questions were making it harder for him by his open expressions. She quickly stared down again, nipping her lower lip. "Yeah," He began, "Sorry for getting you into trouble. Your mother isn't that bad, y'know…" He offered a smile, but it seemed sheepish to the eyes. Serenity nodded politely. "You're that earthling," She stared at him, as if waiting for his nod of agreement, "Right?"

He stared, confused for a brief instant. "Oh! Yeah, I guess… names' Sora. What about you?" He smiled more broadly at the fact of finally striking a conversation, feeling a faint add of confidence. "My names Serenity," She replied, mirroring the broad smile.

"The name doesn't really suit you. In the bath, you screamed real loud…" Sora blushed when he realized the awkwardness of his comment, and stopped speaking all together. Serenity felt the blood rush within her cheeks. She looked away, biting harder on her lower lip.

Sora frowned. "Um, _real_ sorry about that… I didn't mean the remark to be lecherous," He confessed, turning redder at each word he uttered. This was not easy for him in any way, and the fact that he couldn't say things properly without a perverted hidden meaning was harder on him.

"Just…quiet. _I'm_ the one who should be apologizing to _you_. Um, I'm the one who walked in on you anyway." She sighed wearily. Sora agreed, feeling that it was the only way for her to feel better about the predicament.

"So," Serenity started, urging to change the subject, "Why are you here on the moon? Mum never lets a human wonder around the palace without a successful trial." She felt awkward mentioning her mother, after they had had such a frustrating argument.

Sora smiled, recalling the last occurrence. "Well, I did. Your mom was really nice!" He replied cheerfully. It was true. The woman was considerably fair for a Queen—at least compared to the queens he had met. The very thought of the Queen of Hearts made him dimly shudder.

"How?" She tilted her head to one side, curious. It was not likely for her mother to let a human wander feely through their lunar utopia, unless it concerned great importance. "I told her that I was from another world, and need to save all the other worlds, including yours." He searched her expression for any sign of skepticism.

Serenity believed him though. It was reasonable. The boy was wearing something too odd for earthlings to even dare dress themselves in, and he spoke with sincerity. Lunarians had a sort of keen knack for empathy at times. Besides, there were heroes from all over dimensions, from how the time-guardian Trista had put it.

She had offered him a walk through the palace. He did mention he needed a tour guide, though the princess herself did better, and he happily agreed to her kind suggestion.

"Here's the central garden," She made a sweeping gesture to the corner-less leafy confines, were there lay elegant gargoyle statues placed against them. In the center of the round place was the familiar crystal seraph fountain shooting out masses of clear water.

She happily lectured on the history of the gardens and its secrets. Of how the crystal fountain came to be created, and of how every statue had their own original past behind them. Some landmarks, such as the fountain, survived for over millennia.

Sora stared in contented awe, having a gaped smile. "Wow," he sighed, for it was the only word he had to describe it at the moment.

It had taken minutes of roaming through the labyrinth to arrive in the wondrous part of the garden. He was not one for patience, but he trusted Serenity enough to follow. In the end the patience was worth it.

Serenity skipped contentedly towards the rosebush, which was what's more a wall. She looked over at the boy, and instantly he was clipped of his awestricken thoughts. "I grew this myself," She explained, her thumb caressing on a certain rose bud, "Well, with my mums help, of course."

Sora walked up, and was soon right beside her. He felt happy that she, in a sense, had forgiven him, and brought him to the wonderful locale. He looked at her, smiling gratefully. Serenity returned it mildly. "You ever grew plants with your mum?" She asked offhandedly. The question set his jaws tightly, as he took in a thoughtful frown. "My…mother?" He had avoided speaking about the subject of family for so long, about the home his family lived in. Had lived in…

She frowned at his expression. It was times like these when she hated empathy. Sora's cherry-red aura was suddenly powered by only sadness and half-heartedness. She instantly threw the question off his mind as she grabbed his right arm with both of hers. "Come on! I'll show you the ballroom now," She giggled, having a happily reassuring smile. He blushed impulsively in surprised shyness.

She gently ushered him to the largest of the statues. "I thought we were going to the…" He stopped speaking, and stared yet again in surprise. The column the statue stood upon had opened like a cupboard, as if automatically sensing someone would enter. Serenity smiled, "This garden has trapdoors _everywhere_. This one leads to the ballroom!" She grabbed his hand suddenly, and jumped into the dark opening, bringing him and his muffled yelp all together.

It was a short trip compared to the maze, and they found themselves behind twin large pillars and incased within their motionless gray shadows.

Even when in the shadows, they could still see the silver light fall throughout the rest of the ballroom. From what Sora could make out, only the corners that were propped by pillars were lacking glow. The milky marble floor was closed together like tiles, lined with gold trimmings. The pillars before him were very much identical to the coliseums ones, but it looked like they were carved from the grown with the floor, moreover lining with gold.

They stepped out of the shadows, and the spacious ballroom was more visible in the brilliance. Sora noticed with awe that the source of the brilliancy was an enormous chandelier of pale silver and crystal glass, propping up thick candles at each of its ten corners. A musical stadium was corner-less and high. Towering above it was an elegant inner balcony hidden by red mesh curtains. Trailing down it were long, blood-red velvet drapes that descended to sweep against the marble tiles. The same blood-red drapes were trailing down from either high large window of each four loftily gleaming walls.

Serenity sauntered till she was in the center of the ballroom, and once she was there she stared squinting at the bright chandelier. Sora viewed her from his place beside the pillars, watching with a mixed look, as if awed but bewildered all at once. Her hair sharply trapped the light, and it seemed to immediately appear silver.

At that moment Sora imagined her as a grown queen, fully curved and beautiful like her mother. But her hair was let down and unruly, and her features were not yet mature but more of controlled mischievousness. And, briefly, he pictured himself with her, and possibly embracing… He strained not to hit himself extremely hard on the forehead to rid him of the thought.

Serenity giggled, as she stared at him and his oddly dazed look. She tipped her head to one side as she grinned, wanting to have a different view of the humorously entertaining expression. "Sora, come here," She gently ordered. He numbly did what he was told, jogging up to her.

He stared at her from beneath his lashes, looking anxious for something he was not quite sure of. She giggled again, mainly towards his puerile antics. "Come on…" She took his right hand into hers, and gently placed it against her hip. Sora nearly jerked away, but she gave him a look that caused his surprise to weaken down at once.

She answered his obviously questioning look, "You're gonna dance, silly." Sora's eyes widened in horrorstruck surprise, and he gulped nervously. "B-but…wait! I don't know how to d-d-dance!" He miserably stuttered. She snickered in disbelief, laughing all together. "Yeah, right…" She took his other hand into her free one and set it firmly against her left shoulder. "You have to know! I was taught practically since I started to walk!" she scrunched her face in distaste at the memory. She then grinned, "c'mon you lazy bum! Dance with me…"

Sora strained not to pull away, or push her a satisfying distance apart at least. He froze, his skin turning a evident shade of white, as he watched her snake her slender arms around his neck. _Help me…_ was what his suddenly-feeble conscience pleaded. But he could do nothing, and he hated it, and more oddly liked it at the same time.

After a time of perusing and friendly reassuring, his grip shyly firmed on her hip, and his free hand trailed up her right arm till it lay against the rear of her own hand which was set at his nape. He gently pried it off and held it with certainty. She grinned, and he helplessly grinned back, giving in. Maybe learning to dance won't be too bad?

"Seeeereeenity!"

She jerked up at the sudden shatter of silence, but while doing so unfortunately stepped on Sora's right foot. He yelped, and pulled away. Ill-fated for both of them, they were not aware of the firm grip that was still present. She fell with him, and was soon smiling sheepishly as they lay on each other. He turned whiter.

Shallow footsteps stopped immediately upon the large door-less entrance of the ballroom. There was a gasp, as both occupants turned to see a flushed flaxen girl. Sora was not familiar of the stranger, and he tipped his head curiously at this. But, Serenity knew exactly who the flaxen was.

The flaxen stranger had her hair garnished with an evident cherry-red bow atop her head, wearing a matching red baby-doll dress and silk shorts. "Mina…" Serenity uttered nervously. Sora kept the name in mind, for he would certainly need the memory later.

Mina was gaping, from giddiness or shock Serenity was not sure. And then the princess of Venus squealed, jumping up repeatedly in what Serenity could only conclude as the giddiness. "Oh, Serenity! I knew you could bag yourself a cute one!" She skipped towards them. "And he's an earthling, too! I hear there really passionate!" She began to blush dreamily as she thought of possibilities. "The list goes on…"

Sora gave her a questioning look, but Serenity only shrugged. She crawled off of him, left to be sitting on the floor while he hurriedly stood up. "What are you talking about, Mina?" She slowly got up to stand beside her earthling friend. Mina's wink was directed towards Sora, "You already got to second base, and to be so bold as to go for third in the _ballroom_!" Sora's face went from white to fireball red.

"Mina…" Serenity warned gratingly, her tone crucial and nearly frightening. Mina stopped at once, but the smile was kept gallantly. Serenity turned to stare at Sora, her smile apologetic as her brows drew together. She shrugged with that apologetic smile, and walked past Mina indifferently, Sora reluctantly following behind her.

He briefly glanced at the strange girl, but regretted it as she gave a flirty wink his way. Mina giggled as she easily noticed his blush. The tips of his ears flushed a bright red as the silvery laugh echoed in the halls and back to him.

-

No one would understand how relieved he felt when they stepped out of the dreaded ballroom. He was already shamed enough with the incident at the baths from a day prior, and to have yet another rumor run through the palace like fire ants made him grow vastly pale, again.

The beautiful palace that was his momentary tavern was slowly becoming a nightmare of embarrassment. But he left out one particular part of what, or who to blame—Serenity. _She had nothing to do with anything!_ He was persistent upon keeping that one notion, and it was still propping his thoughts.

"Why is it always dark out, Serenity?" Sora asked, as they seated themselves in a bench of the gardens. "It's nearly always dark in the moon," Replied the blonde princess. He nodded shortly, and then stared up at the sky. "It's a little sad, isn't it?" He muttered.

Serenity turned to the brunette boy. He was very different from the few men she had met. He seemed selfless, in a simpleminded sort of way. She liked that, and enjoyed his company.

In the very depth of her mind, she wondered where a certain silver-haired youth would be. She frowned inwardly with worry.

"It's not sad, silly," She giggled, "You could see the earth from hear, and the stars." She leaned deeper on the benches back, taking in the black night sky. "Yeah, you're right," Sora laughed, and stretched his arms to let them lie on the benches arms.

"See there," Serenity said, gesturing to a dark area from far beyond the palace border. It seemed to be the only place that was incased in black shadows. Sora followed her gaze, and was soon staring at the murky place. "That's were the 'Dark Garden' is…" She began to murmur, "A lot of earthlings think that the moon is perfect, but we have our darker sides' here." Her inward frown deepened.

Sora turned away from his gazing at the dark place, staring at her and listening. "That garden forest has many evil things, and is very dangerous. But, many warriors go there simply for sport, mainly the Martian hunters. They hunt the evil that has always been there, for a test or something." He was suddenly awing over the huge forest known as the Dark Garden. It seemed so frighteningly adventurous.

-

"Donald, where are we?" The gentle knight stared at the darkness around them, and cringed. The fiery magician only snorted. "Who cares! We must find Sora, before something bad happens to him!" He clutched his staff readily, glaring into the bleakness of the anomalous forest.

The gloomy gray shadows that were barely cast by the stars were from the black-barked trees, moving gradually in a counterclockwise loop. Goofy forced away what fear he had no choice to undergo, and glared determinedly for the sake of his friend and charge, Sora.

"Well, if it isn't the Keyblade Masters' little lackeys…"

Unfortunately, the forced determination was gone within a split second. Goofy instantly yelped and latched on to his smaller friend in fright. Donald, after swatting the helpless knight away, stood alert as the new voice spoke.

"Who's there!" He demanded in livid boldness. Goofy hid his face behind his shield, cringing behind the angry white duck. "Who is it?" The knight asked in a more feeble voice than his companion, peaking out of the upper rim of the round shield.

The echoes of the strangers' laugh made even Donald want to cringe, but the persistent duck held his ground. "What are you laughing at?" He demanded, waving his ivory wings in the air out of frustration, a small number of feathers falling out as he did so.

One certain shadow burst up, till the silhouette of a simple black heartless slowly stalked up towards them. The two round orbs that were its eyes burned their usual sickening yellow glow.

"Anyone got some bugs' spray?"

-

"So, how is it being a princess? Must be great! I know a lot of princesses, too."

"I don't want this…" Sora stared at her, not quite understanding her sudden response. "What?" He tipped his head more to one side, curious and befuddled. He watched as she drew in a shuddering breath, from the cold air or from her feelings about the conversation, he could not quite tell.

"I don't want to be a princess, not if my life is planned out the very day I was born…" she hugged her chest, watching her white breathe curl with the cold air. Sora blew an animated loop of air with his icy white breath. It was cold in the moon, cold enough to let his breath freeze into mist.

He smiled. "Serenity, not only you have to face life like that," He sighed, "I know how it feels. I don't mind at all!" His smile adjusted from pity to happy. The loopy expression made Serenity laugh. "I was handpicked by the keyblade, even when I didn't want to be…" He felt slightly saddened when he mentioned his destiny. "I mean, c'mon, he chose me, a simpleminded fourteen year old! I am barely old enough to do these life-risking things I do!" He laughed, inwardly forced. "I don't know… maybe I'm not the kayblade master?" Then he laughed ruefully, "Feh, but I could only wish, right?"

Serenity noticed his sadness easily, and felt her lips part in hopes to say something, anything to reassure her new earthling friend. "I'm having a bit of a trouble…" Sora frowned as he spoke, "I have to leave soon but I don't know how. Dimensions are counting on me to save them. Kairi…" He bowed his head, sighing in contempt and noticeable frustration.

Serenity laid a delicate hand on his shoulder. At the soft touch, Sora nearly jerked away. He relaxed considerably as he stared at her, seeing the compassion in her eyes that he truly needed at the moment. She grinned, and then he mirrored that contagious grin with added confidence.

Sora hugged her, smiling broadly. "Thanks Serenity! I feel a whole lot better." Serenity hugged around his neck. She smiled fondly, a smile that felt a strong sense of friendship between them.

Sora felt relieved. He was given something he wanted since the day he was destined with the keyblade, and he loved it. He was given compassion. No one, not even Donald of Goofy, had ever considered what he felt.

He was torn inside. Loosing his mother, his home and family, and his best friends… It really did hurt. But they expected so much of him, so he had masked the sadness, till now. By a simple smile—which by the way said a lot—Serenity had given something to him that was not often expected since the incident with the keyblade.

"Um, Sora, could you let go of me now? You're a little tight on my ribs…" She murmured, faintly grinning. Slowly, he let go of her, having his hands limply glued to his sides again.

She didn't really know what had caused the little compassion to transpire, but she was slightly amused. At first she was moping of how she did not approve of her destiny, and then she was a sort of kid psychiatrist for her earthling friend. It was almost fun.

She stood up once released from the friendship embrace, and walked a few paces away. Serenity smiled cheerfully, her eyes closed as if she could see right through them. He grinned, somehow knowing that she sensed that grin as he watched her smile broaden.

-

-

Well, that felt akward. Who cares, though! Hehe. Got nothing to say right now... Oh yesss, i remember something real impotant...

**SachiNyoko**: (Sparkly eyes) Really? you would do that? Wow, i am flattered! You dont know how having one of my favorite authors say things like that! I feel so confident in this story i don't even care about how many reviews i get! YaY!

**Saiyoko**: (Grins) well, thats alright, i don't always review at first sight either! Yeah, there aint enough Kingdom hearts/Sailor moon crossovers so far. I'm really glad you like this fic. Incidentally, its my first fic.


	4. Chapter 4: the Memories

Hi... did this take too long? I have a good enough reason! I am currentlygrounded from the computer, and the only reason i am in it right now is because i begged my parents. They put a password, so in order for me to update more i must find what that password is. My attemps a currently fruitless... I hope this fic makes sence. it was actually meant to be real short, but it ended up twenty pages long. I have know idea how though, i was just writing for hours upon hours, and then i checked how many pages it was. wasn't overly surprised though.

**I own nothing...** please don't flame me of how this chapter makes no sense! at least i think it doesn't make sense...T.T

Chapter 4: the Memories

She awoke within the familiarities of her luxury bedroom, a smile immediately grazing her face as she remembered the wonderful night's of prior. It was still within hours of darkness, like the majority of her "mornings".

She whipped her legs to the edge of her bed, dragging her feet against the peach-cream runner once she touched the floor. She began to walk idly towards her ivory white closet. She quickly chose a pleated knee-length lavender skort, and a sleeveless ivory blouse to wear, along with a top to go under it. She then tiredly lingered towards her entrance door, and left the bedroom.

Serenity mainly wandered through the palace confines, searching for any other who was awake at the time. It was in the early hours, but one could never tell when the moon was primarily in the bouts of blank darkness. The palace was huge enough to be considered a town, with spiral staircases in virtually every corner or direction so to reach the many upstairs'.

She walked up to reach one low veranda, hugging her arms to put some warmth. Her efforts remained fruitless, for she shivered as the eerily cold atmosphere sent an apparent trail of goosebumps through her forearms. The familiar white mist smoothed out as she gently breathed.

"Hey, Beautiful…"

She was familiar with the voice, but looked up sharply in surprise. Her shoulders slumped and were released from its tenseness, as the pronounced figure of Riku gradually walked up to her. She blushed at his doting pet-name for her. He had been calling her flattering nicknames ever since the last they met. Riku offered a grin, and she tiredly returned the gesture.

Riku drew his brows furl, but his amused smile was kept. "Tired, sweetness?" He walked up to stand beside her, but sat himself on the balustrade of the veranda. She rolled her eyes, shook her head, and laughed all at once. The wind seemed to ruffle his hair further from its usual shaggy style.

He gawked at her mildly, yet she didn't seem to notice, and even if she felt his stare she would offhandedly permit him to do so, but never stare back, seeing as she was use to it by now.

Serenity's hair seemed akin to golden silk in the wind, coating her shoulders and hiding midway of her features. One lot of stray hair shrouded her right eye, her visible ones' eyelid set tiredly low. She leaned her elbows on the balustrade, palms cupping her cheeks as she watched her iced breath.

Riku watched her with the faintest of smiles, his sapphire eyes low-lidded. "Seems you had a tough day yesterday," He pointed out. It was obvious, for a princess would never wake in the midst of windedness when it came to prompt early mornings—err, nights.

Serenity moaned a giggle, too tired to openly laugh. She stood straighter to stretch her arms wide, her shoulder frame snapping in place as she did so. "Yeah," She laughed, "met a new earthling boy the day before in the most awkward of places!" Riku lifted one sliver brow, jumping off the balustrade and afterwards standing on the marble tiles. "Oh? And where would that be?" He looked on in passive curiosity.

She shrugged. "The bathing rooms," She sighed, her cheeks unconsciously burning a petunia-pink. She heard his sharp intake of breath, and turned to look at the suddenly startled silver-haired youth. His brows were high in bewildered shock, and Serenity faintly saw the light gaping of his lips. She leaned her head more on one side, concern and bewilderment creasing her brows.

"Are you okay?" She leaned her face closer to his, simply out of worry. At her gradual action, Riku hurriedly jerked away, searching for something to simmer down his surprise a bit.

"Okay?" He asked incredulously, sarcastically. "Serenity, you met him in a bathing room. That's not a very innocent picture for the minds…" Riku stopped immediately, as his lunar friend gave him a glowering look. He smiled in what _seemed_ innocently.

Serenity scoffed out of frustration. "_Why_ do you people always think of it that way?" She questioned irritably, "I just walked in on him when he was taking a bath!" Riku cleared his throat, his mind clearly not believing it, though desperately wanting to. He watched as she pouted a pout that he couldn't help but get lost into. The look could have managed to get so much out of people.

"Besides, why would you care…" her expression turned sly, "I mean, he was _way_ cuter than you, but other than that I _know_ you don't care, right?" She stared at him with the same seemingly innocent smile he had had on only seconds ago. Hastily, she walked out the balcony. Riku immediately knew what she was trying to do, and desperately tried not to give in.

"Yeah, right," He yelled finally at the fleeing flaxen princess, unable to ignore the comment any longer. But as she was out of view and he was certain she heard his last retort, he smiled fondly. Riku made a move to chase after his certain lunar friend.

But it seemed as if the unfeeling breeze did not allow it. It nearly blew him off balance, ruffling his silver hair so to veil his vision. The breeze was too irrepressible; he was forced to shield the unseen assault with his arms adjacently over his face.

"Riku…dear boy…"

The wild breeze almost immediately froze, as the femininely deep voice seemed to irritably echo only for him to find audible. He looked up, but his glare simmered into a profound frown. An olive complexioned woman stood before Riku, the ebony eyes boring into him. She was clothed in a dark robe with a flaring amethyst collar, and one diagonal horn crowned on her head at either side.

"Maleficent…" He murmured, cautiously bringing down his arms to stare into the woman's darkly eyes with the slightest similarity of a glare. "What are you doing here?"

Maleficent had the eerie air of sly lies and darkly wits. She made even an equally evil entity not dare to trust her. But, regardless of her black aura, for some odd reason she seemed to always be the first evil for a heart to trust. Namely Riku.

The corner of her dark lips curved faintly, her eyes narrowing in amusement. Maleficent averted the staring-spar that was current with the young boy and her, and stared at the one place from which a certain lunar girl had once stood. "You have made quite a friend in this world, Riku…" She observed satisfyingly, as the silver-haired youth tensed.

"I'm only searching for Kairi's heart…" He gritted, glaring menacingly at the neatly pressed pristine tiles. Maleficent shook her head, as if in mock disappointed. "Riku, Riku, Riku…" She closed her eyes gently, "you just met the young girl three mere days ago, and you feel so close?"

"Enough," He ordered, his blunt tone set to expect the conversation finished. He stalked passed her, but not swift enough to avoid the words she so slyly murmured. "She is so alike with Kairi, is she not…?" The comment made him strained not to freeze within mid-step, to defiantly look at her and glare his greatest.

_How dare she? Compare Kairi to… _

He would never compare Kairi to anyone, not even a perfect princess. But, Serenity was not merely a princess, and definitely not perfect; that was only half of what she really was. The other half was beautiful, playfully daring, and so very bright. The girl would easily make various men's knees buckle, even when oblivious to the fact…just like Kairi would do…

He walked away with the uncomfortable thought prodding his mind. His hands curled firmly into fists, his shoulder squared and tensed with the stress of that thought. The mere theories of it made his head ache just to ignore them, and what's more was it was an atypical behavior for him, in which he was so lividly not fond of.

"Riku…! Riku, where are you?" The feeling of apprehension hit him once he heard his name called for, knowing well that it was Serenity who was searching for him. He dutifully went to search for the owner of the voice.

Maleficent stared with amused narrowed eyes. Then she heedlessly turned to stare at the colorful planet that was the earth. She had quite an unfinished business to attend on that certain, vulnerable planet. And with that thought propping her confidence, her smile swayed into a grin of wicked glee.

-

She blinked, almost dumbfounded, but kept her thoughts about the situation inward. She had given up on finding her first earthling friend ten minutes since, and stumbled upon a soldier. "What do you mean?" Instead she asked what was expected, to make the conversation as mild as possible. It was not a sensible idea to ague with the virtually unbeatable soldier of wind.

Amara sighed. The moment she caught the young princess in her sight, she was determined to speak with her of the news. "Serenity…" she slowly began. For the sake of her lunar princess she would be patient, even as she stood in her planetary warrior garb and was no longer a princess herself, but an impassive soldier of Uranus. "Your mother sees it fitting that you go to Earth, to see your future husband…" she watched carefully of what Serenity's reaction would be.

Unexpected from the younger girl, she smiled with the obvious hint of excitement. Amara was not expecting such a youthful response. Perhaps the girl loved the earth so passionately, even to simply visit the rival prince of Earth would be of no particularly importance.

Serenity happily embraced the bemused soldier of Uranus. "Oh, I am so exited!" her antics would have been appalling to others of higher nobility and manners, because she was a princess of the foremost in royalty. But, Amara was always very fond of her youthful responses. The lanky blonde gently hugged her back, once ridding of her bemusement, of course.

Amara moved a few paces back, bowed, and gave the most uncharacteristic smile she would only allow for serenity's eyes. Afterwards she walked swiftly through the opposite of the halls. Serenity waved enthusiastically as a gesture of a temporary goodbye.

Serenity was wavered by the fact she was ordered to see her "future husband", but having to travel to the one place that she forever dreamed to visit was worth the nuisance. She grinned, forcibly ignoring the future problems she would eventually face with the Earth prince.

"Hey Serenity…!" the hand that placed itself against her shoulder caused her to jerk in fright. She turned sharply, only to glare into the pretty face of Mina. She searched the room with only her eyes, but found that Riku still had not bothered to follow her.

"What are you looking for?" Mina inquired, smiling. Serenity took several more glances sideways, frowned, and stared in disappointment at the floor. "Riku…" she murmured, confused rather than angry at the silver-haired boy for disserting her. She pouted.

Mina looked at her questionably. She mirrored the lunar princess act and looked sideways as well. "Riku," She mimicked thoughtfully, "Land is all around us, Serenity…" the fair-haired princess of Venus failed to notice the apparent sweatdrop that trickled down Serenity's temple.

"Anyway, I was kind of wondering of you and that earthling boy…" Serenity turned away, so not to show any sort of expression that might confuse or sadden the bubbly Venusians. As she avoided eye-contact with her friend, she sighted the vague view of a boy walking past another part of the pillar halls. She perked instantly, smiling.

The lunar girl managed to sneak her way out while Mina was inattentive at a certain moment. Serenity dashed towards where the boy once stood, stifling a triumphant laugh as she heard the flaxen Venusians wail out her name. She quickly turned the corner.

Mina pouted, easily giving up her strive to bring the girl back. Besides, the only thing she was doing was wailing out the lunar girl's name, without the slightest thought of actually running after her. Her voice was so high-pitched it hurt even her own ears.

The princess of Venus overtook a solemnly determined expression. "Well, if she doesn't want to admit her love towards the earthling boy, than the Goddess of Love shall do it for her!" She raised an index finger high in the air, as if solving a complex case. Mina then placed that finger on her chin, her determination look dimming to a concentrated frown. "Now, all I have to do is make a plan! Serenity's valentine will not go in vain…" she squealed in giddiness.

Oblivious to the young Venusians, Riku watched from a pitch black shadow behind the pillars. His sapphire eyes stared at her sharply, in an almost glowering look. "Another earthling boy, huh…?" He murmured, namely to himself. He snickered, "whatever…"

He didn't care. He wasn't deflated over the fact there was a possible chance of Serenity already having a lover, other than the betrothed she was given for duty she had never wanted since. Riku was sure the earth _prince_ could never obtain her love, but, what of this newly found earthling _boy_? A mere boy would catch her interest? Her, a gorgeous princess who definitely disserved far better, would rather fool with a simpleminded _boy_ of earth?

Riku soon realized with faint disappointment that his thoughts were not reasonable or characteristic of him, for he had never even met the new boy. He had no right to judge someone without any means of digging out the facts. Was he being too protective, perhaps? Riku shook his head fiercely with denial. The thoughts were disturbingly foreign to him, and he hated them at once.

He just met the girl. It made him feel as if all the years of perfecting coolness decided to betray him for the sake of that girl. His naturally composed personality seemed topsy-turvy, and he wasn't sure what Serenity would make him feel next. He did not like to be uncharacteristic. In fact, he hated it.

And yet, miserably, he still considered the lunar princess as his friend. Maybe somewhere in his serious façade and denying thoughts, he enjoyed her company and what he felt when with her. Because, what he felt was similar to when Kairi had her pure heart and still smiled, when he once had friends, when he once had his best friend, Sora.

But those deep feelings were nowhere near his thoughts, buried _mercilessly_ under his frustration which was too strong to be ignored. He was confused, and with that confusion was the anger of having confusion.

The words of Maleficent echoed at the depths of his mind. Those words that were told earlier were clear as crystal. "_She is so alike with Kairi, is she not?_" to him it was personally offensive. "Damn it…" He glared into the darkness in which he stood. He knew what the dark woman had intended to do, he knew the hidden meaning of what she had said. But, it wasn't wise to think of it now, or any other time either. Nor was it wise to be wary of a simple earthling boy…

He would never admit that he felt that small twinge of The Word he so constantly ignored. The one bitter sensation that would truly and finally proclaim him as _utterly_ out of character. Give a guess of what that word may be…

-

Sora was some feet away from leaving the halls and entering the spacious courtyard from which the famous Secret Garden resided. He was only wandering aimlessly, not entirely caring of where he would end up. And then there was the familiar tone of voice that called out his name.

As he turned to look, it was as if he were imagining things when he found what called for him. "Kairi…" he rubbed his eyes, not entirely believing his vision. Sora smiled, almost sadly, but it was ear to ear. "Oh, Serenity! Hi…" his smile broadened as he forced his mind to forget the delusion.

Serenity grinned. "Sora, so you're not a lazy bum after all," She laughed. "You woke up early!" For a short instant he only stared at her. _Now why does that sound so familiar…?_ Sora abandoned the thought instantly, as another wonder came to mind. "Wait a minute, its morning?" He looked up at the stars, as if it would give any sort of answer. He frowned when he found none.

Serenity rolled her eyes, but her smile was set still. "Don't you remember? There's almost no light on the moon," She said. Sora nodded slowly. He had awakened only brief minutes before, and was still adjusting his memory at the time. Any sort of wake-up in the morning, or night, always made him forget a few memories of yesterdays.

Sora smiled, noting mentally that he seemed to be doing it often around the flaxen lunar princess. A breath of fresh air, and smiles ear to ear. He felt fine when he was around the princess, what's more his friend.

He was no longer wearing his odd garb, which had seemed normal on his world. He wore a black chemise of simple cotton, and blackish-blue denim shorts that shortened perfectly at his knees. He seemed more normal, and obviously would fit in more with the other casually-dressed lunarians.

They "walked" through the courtyard for what seemed like hours, but still they remained close to the palace for Sora's sake of ignorance about the maze. It was at the pillars in which they decided to rest. Sora sat on the pristine floor, his back leaning tiredly on the pillar that was propped helpfully behind him. Serenity did not bother to relax, given that she was not as tired when it came to early mornings. But it was amusing to envision her friend sleep like a baby.

"Why so tired? We've only been walking around for a few minutes." She glanced down at him, her hands held together and placed at the small of her back as she stood. He sharply glanced up at her, his expression incredulous. Defining the word "walk" meant running, and the word "minutes" meant hours! _How could she be all restful and not me?_ He whined, his expressions mirroring his thoughts.

The look he set on made her giggle. She stood towering over his seated form, only as she bent down were they in eyelevel with each other. Sora was faintly surprised at the closeness, but did not feel uncomfortable for some reason. "What's going on in your little earthling head?" She giggled. He smirked sheepishly, resting his head on the pillar even further. "Nothing that concerns _you_…" He taunted right back, only for good humor.

She only shrugged, smiling in fair defeat. Soon standing straightly, she watched him unevenly stand. He yawned. "How come we have to do this early in the morning?" He yawned. "Night," she corrected absently. He glanced at her, almost irritably, but pouted. "Yeah, night…"

Serenity's smile was sheepishly apologetic. "Oh, sorry, I'm just use to things like that…" He waved a hand to silently dismiss the subject, and accept the apology. He sighed, and stood leaning on the pillar once more for support, having his hands rest at his nape.

The wind rushed through them, and Sora was annoyed as his stubbly hair ruffled to shadow his eyes and cloud his sight. Some lot of Serenity's golden hair flew to tickle Sora's nose, and he sneezed. She giggled, grabbing the lot of hair and pulling it up. He watched as she made loops and turns, and was amazed as she pulled her hair into a finish of twin buns placed tightly at either side of her head, while streamer-like plaits trailed downward from those buns.

As she released her hands from her now-neat hair, she beamed at him. Sora was not entirely sure of how she managed to set her shaggy golden hair into a peculiarly cute hairstyle. He had watched quite intently when she began, but it seemed to disappear the harder he tried to remember. His head began to give a dull ache at all the twist and turns at his effort to remember Serenity fashioning her hair into the unique buns.

He shook his head, having a mental note crammed into his memory to never think of hair and buns too often. "Guess what," She spoke, driving Sora out of his thoughts quickly. Confusion easily creased his brows. "Guess, what?" He asked. Serenity grinned. "Whatever," She laughed, "Well, I get to go to the earth!"

"Oh, you mean up there…" He muttered, smiling up towards the suspended planet that hovered gently above them. "You could come if you want…" Sora looked up at her, but as he did she promptly looked away. He could scarcely distinguish the faintest of a blush creep at her cheeks. "I mean, you could come to the earth with me. Maybe, your earth isn't so different than this one." She dared to look at him, offering a smile all at once.

A sense of concentration drew his brows together. It would be nice to actually visit something that reminded him of home, of his islet paradise that went by the name Destiny Island. He was certain that there subsisted a beach somewhere on the 'other earth'. His world was destroyed; her kind suggestion was the perfect opportunity to reflect on the good times, the times were he would snooze on the shores till someone would wake him up…

"Yeah, I would love to go with you!" He grinned broadly, standing up as if his lassitude had never been present. Then he looked at her, grin faltering immediately, as if silently asking for a more specific approval out of her. He blushed, "Um, I mean, yeah. Sounds cool if you're up for it…" His hand stroked the back of his head nervously.

Serenity smiled her widest. "Thanks!" She latched on to hug him, the impact making him stumble but not fall. Ignoring the heavy blush that easily forced its way onto his cheeks; he hugged back like he would do an old friend, laughing at her energetic response.

"Sora…?"

The voice was familiar, so frighteningly familiar to him, and so frighteningly suspicious. He let go at once, staring at the dark-haired stranger that narrowed her glare at him. He grinned, though it was obviously a sheepish one. "Oh, Mars…" He uttered nervously.

The chief soldier and princess of Mars had attended the trial that he was put in. She did not give him all smiles and laughs, but more of sharp glares and suspicious glances. She had not given him any mercy with her infamous glowers and scowls. Though the girl did not say much, Sora knew by her burning mauve eyes that she had hated him at once.

"Well, if it isn't the little earth boy from another dimension…" She narrowed her eyes at him, but then turned to stare at the lunar girl, "and Serenity?" She almost sounded disappointed, almost scolding. She lifted a black brow, drumming the sharp tip of her arrow that she held so to tap at the floor. If she had suspected something, she did not say it with words, but with her eyes.

She snickered, deliberately slicing the silence mercilessly in to two. She gave up with the useless staring match and promptly went to the point. "I was looking for you Serenity. Mina had told me you were somewhere here…" She frowned in memory of the giddy Venusians girl.

"What do you want?" Serenity smiled broadly. Despite there apparent differences, the two were the best of friends. Reye—to the utmost surprise of Sora—smirked just as broadly, the action intent only on friendship and nothing more. "I want to spar," She stated, shrugging, "after all, I want to beat you before my sixteenth birthday…"

Serenity scoffed teasingly. "Yeah, right…" She smiled as she rolled her eyes. Reye glared, almost pouted, and pointed her sharp arrow to hover above Serenity's chest. "You forget that I am the ruler of an entire Martian army!" Her lunarian friend grinned. "And you forget, regardless of your title, I could still kick your butt!" This brought the Martian princess to scowl.

Sora watched this scene, completely feeling ignored. He frowned. Just as they were about to argue senseless, he interrupted, "Um, why don't you guys just spar already?" He almost felt irritated of there obvious but childish rivalry. But he was mainly surprised that he saw another side of the scary Martian girl that he never knew existed. Guess he judged too quickly.

Reye considered snapping back at the boys' comment, as she sharply heard the faintest of annoyance in his tone. But she ignored him. "Fine!" both girls exclaimed in unison, but serenity's tone was more exited rather than the seriously challenging tone Reye put on.

Serenity grabbed at Sora's arm, and pulled him as a gesture to follow. "Come on, Sora, you can watch me beat her!" She squealed. Sora blinked, confused and slightly frightened. Was it wise to say such things in front of the angry Martian? He glanced to make sure Reye was not about to kill, soon regretting it as the girl simply glared back.

"_Hello_, I am right here! I could easily hear your conversation!" She huffed, folding her arms against her chest as an action of annoyance. Serenity purposely ignored her just to tease, running off into the labyrinth center while practically dragging a very reluctant Sora. Flushing in semi-controlled anger, Reye sharply ran after the two.

They were now running the curvy paths of the labyrinth. Sora stole a glimpse over his shoulder. Reye seem to catch up to them effortlessly, but what made him gape in panic was the wild determination in her eyes that promised so much regret for the two—regret that he did not desire for his lunar friend, or himself for that matter!

As they found the familiar grounds of the spacious center, Reye immediately urged Serenity to fight. She smirked, expecting an interesting prospect out of the fight. "Well, you ready?" she outstretched one arm, her palm emitting a blood-red aura. Soon it burst into a ball of flame, though Reye did not feel the slightest of pain.

Sora's eyes had widened at the supernatural show before him, but he wisely kept to himself until the little spar came to an end. Serenity whistled in admiration, but soon smirked with the mischievous gleam in her eye. "Tisk, tisk. You can't just create a fire in a garden!" She stated in mock disappointment, her index finger swaying left to right as if gesturing a no.

Reye scowled, all the while narrowing her eyes at the flaxen. "I knew that!" She stated gratingly. The ball of fire slowly formed into the shape of a looping contour of red energy. The energy faded till what left was a fine black-wood bow. Her free hand still held onto the sharp arrow.

Serenity humph'ed and held her nose high, her arms crossed indignantly, "Showoff…" Reye faintly kept her scowl, but was fully aware of her opponents' distractedness. Smirking, she immediately seized the opportunity. With unmatched reflexes, the arrow was placed easily upon the bows' gauzy string, and then just as swiftly was released.

The attack was easily but narrowly missed, as Serenity somersaulted out of the way. The arrow had not accomplished its aim, but did destroy a fine batch of lavender sages. She glared at the Martian, her own hand glowing a pearly white aura. The light simmered till it revealed a lengthy silver blade locked with a bejeweled golden hilt.

For a brief instant Reye was surprised, but it only led to pointed anger. "Your not suppose to use the Sword of the Moon!" She exclaimed, almost whined in outrage. Reye was not about to let the famously powerful sword be used in this mêlée, not when it was strictly forbidden to use it as simple sparring. The sword was for _war_ battles only.

Serenity let one eye close, her tongue childishly stuck out for unspoken taunting. "My mum said it was _appropriate_ for me to learn how to use my second birthright!" She stated, as if mocking the raven-haired girl, easily lifting the weighty gold hilt so the blade would gleam pointedly at her opponent.

Reye scoffed as a show of unimpressed dubiousness, but secretly smiled in impish mirth. The new toy would be added challenge, but it was all a Martian soldier could ask for in a spar. "Well, aren't you just the prissy princess!" She began to speedily throw an onslaught of strategically aimed arrows.

They were some arrows Serenity avoided easily, and others she countered with a swift cut of her blade. The arrows would be sliced in two before they could ever reach her in time for a blow. Reye was intentionally letting the young girl dodge them though, for she was not about to be blamed for staking a royal. She had a very adroit plan in mind. She would win this little match…

"Easy with the arrows!" Serenity whined in mock fright. She did another cartwheel as a dozen arrows trailed behind her. Reye scowled, "Wait awhile, and maybe I'll consider it!" The tone was sarcastic, and when the Martian was sarcastic it usually meant a definite no. She drew back her bow swiftly, all the while lunging forward as Serenity was an arms length away.

The flaxen yelped as she just barely ducked to avoid the red leather-clad fist. Frustrated, Reye use the brief opportunity and reared one leg back, just as swiftly thrusting it forwards to aim at Serenity's abdomen. The attack hit its target dead on.

Serenity took uneven steps backwards, hugging her pained stomach as she choked out raspy coughs. Forcibly, she let go of her stomach and winced as she did so. "Owie," she frowned. Reye was certainly playing it rough this time. Despite her pain and the fact she was suppose to hate the Martian girl by now, she laughed, but it was hoarse. Reye was determined, and Serenity was a fair enough sport to respect that.

The said person narrowed her mauve eyes and fixed it suspiciously on Serenity. She carelessly kicked the fallen sword an extra distance away from her opponent. Serenity smirked, mainly out of the challenge that she had only half expected. "You've gotten better!" She said, sounding happily proud of the Martian. There was a brief look of bemusement in Reyes' strongly expressive eyes, but it was replaced with a quick glower.

Sora watched the fight with clenched fist. His expressions were of anger, horror, and so much torturing feelings that he had no choice but to hold back. It was only a spar, and Reye seemed like a close friend. But even those reassuring facts did not keep him from feeling these things. Serenity was a marvelous fighter, and he had noticed it quickly, was almost proud to know even, but he was struck with thickly raw emotions that he did not try to even believe her to be winning, or that the fight was nothing more than a spar.

He felt scared, and it panicked him even more that he did not know why. He felt angry, and the anger had immediately aimed at the Martian, Reye. Incidentally, he forgot that he was extremely afraid of the raven-haired girl. He felt sad, for the stupidest thought that Serenity might not make it alive. His emotions made him think like an idiot. This was scarcely the reason to why most heroes kept themselves impassive. But _no_, Sora wasn't impassive. He was ignorant. Wrong was the saying, "Ignorance is bliss…" so very, very wrong.

The fight was over, leaving a sheepishly laughing Serenity who had tripped backward and in to the fountain. She was weaponless, which concluded that the victor was Reye.

Reye sat herself on the rim of the round fountain, shoving her bow and what was left of her arrows back into her handy-dandy subspace pocket. She was not one to run around in a dress, so she had grudgingly put up with a pleated ebony skort. She adjusted the straps of her loose scarlet tank-top, afterwards wiping the few droplets of sweat that trickled down the corner of her brows. Women were not allowed to wear slacks; it was a surprisingly strict rule within the Silver Alliance.

Serenity, still sitting in the clear water, twisted the dampness out of her pigtails and fluffed her buns dry. "No fair," She pouted, unaware that it was so Kodak-worthy adorable, "you tripped me!" She jammed her open palms down on the marble ground that was beneath the water, unintentionally splashing considerable waves of it towards Reye.

She blinked, noticing that her best-friend was wet and dripping. Reyes expression was not angry, not too much anger to send her bawling, but there was the slight twitching of her lips as the ever-so-slowly curled to reveal her slightly sharp fangs. Abruptly, and too sharply for Serenity's liking, Reye stared with her famously intense glower. "Serenity…" She growled lowly. Serenity only folded her arms, her boldness hiding the pathetically feeble way she truly felt. "What? I'm the one soaking wet!" She pouted that I-am-totally-oblivious-that-this-looks-cute pout yet again.

Reye narrowed her eyes, a tendency she often did when angry or suspicious. But she did nothing but grunt in annoyance, standing up and whipping her hair so the water would fly towards anyone unfortunately close enough—namely Serenity. She glared at Reye, but surprisingly the dark-haired girls' action was merely an accident. Reye looked down, and said, "Sorry," but the tone was vague on whether she was sarcastic or truthful.

Sora walked up to her, immediately offering a helping hand as he set his outstretched arm for her to reach. She grinned gratefully, taking his hand unevenly as her wet palm nearly slipped off his leather-gloved hand. He flinched automatically as if to catch her, already alert if she were ever to trip again. Noticing this, an inward smile curled her lips.

Reye observed the boy. He seemed protective of her, whether he knew it or not. The dark-haired Martians' thoughts seemed to wonder till she found a wickedly amusing scheme. She smirked and, as they were distracted, pulled out her bow yet again. She wasn't about to waist the little arrows she had left. The rest of her arrows scattered and stuck deep in to the leafy corner-less confines. But there was another way to strike her scheme unexpectedly.

Serenity giggled at herself, as she nearly tripped once again. She was soaking wet, her damp white blouse revealing the black spaghetti-strapped top she wore beneath it. Sora's bleached-black chemise was already darkened by the wetness, but he didn't mind and took his time with the suddenly klutzy blonde.

"Heads up, lovebirds!"

Sora grabbed her protectively, at the same time pushing her forward to avoid the attack. Serenity let out a muffled cry, mainly to express how surprise she felt at the moment when being tackled right back in to the fountains pool.

Reye waited for the two to plunge out of the water before she let out a shrill laugh. "Well," She toned between laughed, "I knew it! The earthling is jumpy!" Regardless of the fact that she had deliberately swung her thick wooden bow at them as if like a sword and nearly harmed them, she laughed. She proved her inward theories of the boy.

Serenity propped herself up with both elbows, the rest of torso lying immobile in the knee-length pool of water. She couldn't move under Sora's weight, but he then propped himself above her to stand on his hands and knees. She fidgeted, smiling lopsidedly in an almost apologetic manner, and blew one lot of damp hair away from her forehead. Her action was fruitless, as the heavily damp lot of hair slapped right back onto her forehead.

Sora flushed petulantly at the comment from the Martian. He glared absently down at Serenity, but the look was portraying his current feelings towards the dark-haired Reye. Serenity blinked, thoroughly confused as to why he gazed at her so heatedly. But he was only straining to keep composed, and was not aware of his expression.

He stood up before Serenity could question his odd feelings. Sometimes empathy confused her, and Sora's current feelings doubled everything she herself felt. Nevertheless, she laughed along with Reye, but her laugh was of good humor that Sora noticed and did not feel hurt on. Sighing in fair defeat, he smoothed back his hair, the dampness causing it to stick back sleekly. He walked over the rim of the pool and out to stand on the grassy floor.

"Heh-heh… that was pretty funny, Reye…" He twisted out the dampness on the hem of his chemise, gritting his teeth as he spoke. Reye noticed the icy sarcasm in his voice whether he knew it or not, but did not bother to retort. She only smirked.

The smirk gave him memories. The memories of an overconfident silver-haired friend he once knew and envied. Sora frowned in response, his jaws set tightly so not to make any complaining comment of his own.

Serenity folded her arms loosely against her chest, watching with passive interest and silence. She hadn't noticed it before, but the boy was toned handsomely. The wet shirt clung to his torso to reveal muscle that was just broad enough to be visible. She blushed, but she did not seem to notice this as she scrutinized Sora's body even more.

Reye laid an idle right arm against Sora's shoulders, smirking almost cheerfully and ignoring his wetness. This made Sora wide-eyed with alarm, as he strained not to jerk away rudely. She was only being friendly.

"Y'know, you may be a lowly earth boy, but I can tell you have manners, often enough anyway," She idly examined her finely shined ruby-red nails as she spoke, "I won't mind if you ever have any interest in Serenity..." She grinned as he turned white, "And, I don't say this to many earthling… in fact, I don't say anything nice about earth at all!" Sora stared in utter confusion, as she feverishly laughed at what seemed to be her own private joke.

Serenity grabbed Sora's arm and jerked him away from the Dark-haired Martian. She clung at his arm firmly, almost possessively, and glared at Reye. "Stop that! You're scaring him," She retorted. Reye snorted, "Well then, he must be an idiot to have no interest in you whatsoever…" She eyed Sora briefly, and then returned to Serenity, "Then again, he's an earthling…"

Sora stared at the grass, trying to avoid Serenity and Reye altogether, and more importantly to ignore their conversation. He frowned as the blonde tightened her embrace on his arm. He began to feel cold, and it was obvious as he shivered stridently. Serenity seemed to shiver, too, but she still defended him with quite the ill-mannered remarks.

"Serenity, I'm getting kinda cold…" He said, gently jerking his arm away. Serenity hugged herself once he let go, feeling cold as well. "Yeah…" She sharply turned to glare at Reye. "You shouldn't have dumped me in the water." Serenity complained. "And me too…" She could scarcely hear Sora mutter beside her.

"Want me to heat you two up?" Reye suggested, slyly smiling as her right arm blazed her blood-red aura.

Sora cringingly shrugged, "No!" He replied promptly, fearfully. With a disappointed frown, she drew her hand back, with its red light fading gradually. "Yeah, whatever…" she muttered.

Serenity turned her head so to stare up at Sora, and then took his hand. As he questionably glanced at her, she promptly pulled him to leave the center of the Secret Garden. "Let's go. We might catch a cold…" She seemed worried of her health, and more so of his. "And in the moon, a cold stands for pneumonia." If this were any other day, her remark would have been a joke, but her tone was solely grave, and soft.

After a brief expression of surprise, he replied, "Uh, yeah. Okay…" and willingly let her drag him towards the palace. And with it came the annoyingly long trek to exit the Secret Garden.

After merely ten minutes of walking, Serenity noticeably shivered as they walked through the one-way garden hall. Sora instantly drew his brows in concern, and gripped her hand. As she felt him tighten his hold on her hand, she turned to him. Knowing instantly that he was concerned, she smiled so to reassure. "I'm just cold," She assured cheerily. "But in the moon, a cold stands for pneumonia…" He countered solemnly, his tone soft but blunt. Her façade wavered, and she frowned inwardly at her own defeat on the conversation.

Sora was being uncharacteristic. He was being protective. But he wasn't aware of it, and permitted himself with his innocently unassuming air. Serenity pouted, "And when did you get all snappy?" He laughed, both at her expression and the not literal question. "Since I met you," He teased good-humoredly.

In ways, what was meant only to tease actually was true. But it was no where near meaning impolite, but of protectiveness, of course. He was only doing what's best for her whether he knew it or not. And he was candidly oblivious that he was changing. He was maturing. He was breaking a promise.

_Don't ever change, okay? _

Sora blinked, stopping from his current tickle fight with Serenity. They had been teasing each other for quite awhile, and then one thing led to another. And that other was a tickle fight of all things.

He looked up, his brows creased and his childish smile broken in to a confused frown. He could faintly hear Serenity delay her giggling in the background, as he solely concentrated. He could have sworn he heard a voice, weak but audible enough. Maybe a memory just popped into his head? Like all the other times.

"Sora, are you alright?" Serenity drew her brows together, slowly lifting her hand as if to lie upon his shoulder. He was instantly stripped of his daze, and once so he looked down at her. She drew back her hand half-heartedly.

Smiling, he was about to respond reassuringly, but he made a brief glance over Serenity's shoulder. His breath was held back as he saw her, a red-haired girl staring at him from across the garden hall with the familiar laughing azure eyes. The sight was vague, as if a mirage, but his mind was not allowing him to believe that was so.

"Kairi…" He choked out, almost sobbed, and then ignored Serenity as he was forced to walk around her. As he heedlessly brushed pass her, the action left the blonde bewildered and immobile—and hurt.

"Sora," She began, confused, "Where are you going?" she started to turn around, intent on calling him back, but he was running away once she fully turned around. She gasped. "Sora!"

After a time she just stood there out of confusion, and worry. She then ran after him, ignoring the fact that he was probably a long way ahead of her. "What's gotten into to him?" She murmured namely to herself, as she determinedly chased after the brunette boy. It was not safe for him to run around the maze. He had no idea how to exit the place; it was obvious that there was a chance he would freeze to death if she didn't find him in time. But she was not concerned of _her_ health at the moment, in which caused her to ignore her feverish shivering.

As she turned a corner, two lithe arms grabbed her in time to muffle her screams with its hand and firm the free one around her waist.

"Shhh, it's just me…" She opened her eyes and immediately froze from her screaming. The voice sighed in relief, and the hand was released from her lips, but the arm around her waist was still firm. She noted that her hands were placed limply on a familiarly toned chest.

"Riku," She murmured. Her memory of Sora briefly forgotten, she asked, "Where did you go? I was looking for you…" But the thought of the Keyblade master came back again more potent than ever, and she wanted to hit herself for forgetting. She pushed her hands against his chest to fidget free. "Please, Riku. let me go. I have to find him…" The hold on her waist loosened, but did not release.

Riku's brows drew together. "Sweetness, you feel hot…" He gently laid a hand against her forehead, but it quickly drew back in surprise as he felt the heatedness of a fever. Serenity gave in, coughing. She shivered, as she permitted him to hold her closer. "I feel so cold…but I have to find him…" She began to softly weep. Riku was not even at the least concern on who this _him_ was. "No can do, Sweetness. You're too sick." He stared down at her with a concerned grimace.

At his negative response, Serenity's eyes grew wide with horror. "No…" She whimpered feebly. But her voice grew louder and more determined, "No! I have to find him!" the weakness seeming to flee out of her, as she thrust a startled Riku aside, and the unexpected response sent him falling back-first on the grass and pebble covered ground. He was not expecting such a protest; hence he had no choice but to be pushed aside like a simple door.

Serenity ran desperately, trying hard not to stop out of windedness or her sudden illness. Oblivious to her, the faded shadows that cast down upon the garden seem to move and grow in size…

-

"Sora…" She sighed contentedly, smiling broadly. Her hands were held together at the small of her back, a tendency she usually did when staring fondly at something. "You've changed so quickly here…" She laughed, the laugh that he loved to hear sway out of her lips.

"No…" He persisted, shaking his head. "I haven't changed! I made a promise, remember?" He smiled at her, wanting to be reassured by her and wanting her to laugh for him again. And she did laugh, and in return his smile broadened.

But he still felt sad, as if he knew it wasn't true. That none of the present events happening was true. He needed someone that would truly reassuring him. Not with a laugh, but with an expressive smile… "Serenity…" the moment he remembered of his lunar friend, the vision of Kairi before him vanished like dust in the wind, the only evidence of her ever there were the echo's of beautiful laughs. "No!" He reached his hand out for the by now gone girl, a futile attempt to reach her. He fell to his knees in sorrow.

Replacing where Kairi had once stood, a pitch black silhouette of a creature was in place. As Sora squinted to rid of the vagueness of the view, he quickly found a black heartless. "No…" He couldn't believe the heatless had found this place, too. He didn't want the world to be destroyed. It was too innocent, filled with all too innocent people. Serenity…

Before he could react to the situation, the heartless swiftly lunged forward. It screeched an inhumanly eerie war cry as it prolonged to run up to him in attempts of attacking. He tightly closed his eyes, awaiting certain death and hiding the horrorstruck in his eyes. He was vulnerable without the keyblade, he knew that too well. Without the magical weapon, he was nothing. The previous sadness with Kairi that he endured led him to depression and self-doubt.

"No!"

"Heartless, stop!"

The shadow creature froze, automatically sinking in to the gloomed ground and fleeing away. Sora felt arms rap tightly around his pathetic self. He didn't want pity from anyone at the moment. He felt he didn't disserve it.

Serenity had dropped to her knees and immediately embraced him, ignoring the pain as her knees hit the rigid pebbles. She had watched the unfamiliar shadow creature pounce toward her friend once she found him, and she was sure that the creature was not harmless. She had felt its spine-shivering pitch black aura.

She felt Sora penitently cry, and he hugged her back almost fiercely. The action only made her embrace even tighter. "Sora, I thought you were gonna die…" She shivered. He sniffed, and shut his eyes tight. "I couldn't do anything… I was so sure I was dying that I didn't even want to believe I was being saved." His face buried against her shoulder. Serenity's apparent fever went unnoticed by Sora.

"_Sora_?"

The voice was so familiar to his ears, but it was also atypically surprised and incredulous. He moved his head up slightly from its place on Serenity's helpful shoulder, his eyes stunned and hopeful. The sight, a familiar silver-haired rival, stood as the owner of that profound voice. "Riku…" His embraced loosened on the blondes' ribs till his arms fell limply, and he stared up at him as if the depression he once felt was gone…

-

-

Well, let me know if its wierd. i feel its awkward...

**SachiNyoko**: Lol! glad you like it! (Hits head) and i totally forgot to change that mistake! thanx for pointing it out! I am glad you like the way i portray their emotions.I like to let the reader picture the characters expressions less vaguely so it couldmatch with their emotions. Heh-heh, don't get too hyper though, because im grounded... (Sobs)


	5. Chapter 5: Sunshine on the Moon

**I don't own anything anime. **

Chapter 5: Sunshine on the Moon

_Jealousy_. It was that one word that would finally proclaim him as undoubtedly out of character. That one word that he had never felt in the whole fifteen years of his life was currently present. He was always better than others, always one step ahead of the game, but this was far too unexpected for him. He was confident, and with that confident trailed the sleek explanation of why. He is just _better—was _better.

But he was not confident anymore. Tentativeness chased after jealousy. And he unquestionably hated it. Others were supposed to envy _him_, not the complete _opposite_. He was so use to his confidence, so accustomed to being better and thinking no one else was as equally advanced that he did not fully recognize what he was feeling. Envy, jealousy, hate… they were emotions that he rarely felt. And the fault was one simple embrace of two people he did not expect to even know one another.

He had chased after Serenity. She was so ill with fever. He had the useful knowledge's of this lunar world, and he knew that Lunarians were very delicate when it came to illnesses. He had been desperately worried towards the blonde. But he found something in the end of his chase and, yes, he was atypically shocked yet again…

It had become so dark. It was hard to believe that it was still in the midst of the afternoon. The shadows were pitching bleakness throughout the garden, with no hint of lightening whatsoever, from which slowly rid of the gardens' beauty. The atmosphere seemed to fit his mood at the moment.

"_Sora_?"

Riku could not believe that his _ex-friend_ was in this particular world, and Serenity was holding him so—so affectionately! He envied over the view as Sora held her so desperately for compassion, and he lusted over what the Keyblade Master embraced.

But, maybe _lust _was too much of a sinful word of what he felt for the girl? He could not imagine him ever lusting over anything, not even Kairi who he cared for and was the wistful reason he ever considered coming to the world. No, lust felt too wrong, Serenity did not disserve to be loved just by body but by personality, lust was a long ways away from what he felt for her. But, then what was he feeling?

He was not pondering these thoughts, but they still lay wisely dormant and desperately ignored. Instead he thought of if the brunette boy stalked him. Riku did not want to believe that the petty Keyblade Master had merely landed on the Lunar Utopia by _accident_,and was completely oblivious of him being here—until now, of course.

"Riku…" The silver-haired boy felt momentarily bewildered when he easily noted the hope in Sora's tone, almost as if the younger boy was glad to see him for a small instant.

As he watched Serenity embraced Sora, the answer dawned on him too obviously for his liking. Sora, Riku's naïve island acquaintance, was the boy Serenity met from the baths. The thought sent him livid, and he was confused as to why he even felt this way. Straightening, Riku walked as composedly as he could towards his once old friend.

"Riku… that you?" Sora shakily attempted to stand. Serenity did not seem to mind him ignoring her, but she whimpered. He noticed her shudder when he was in mid-step of reaching the silver-haired boy, and looked on in time to see her automatically bring up a hand to her lips in attempts of muting her hoarse cough.

He looked down at her, and the horror he felt just then seemed to tighten the knot in his chest tenfold. Instantly ignoring Riku's presence, he keeled yet again to see what was wrong with the shivering girl.

"I-I'm… just-t c-cold…" her teeth were chattering frenziedly now. Before Sora could even consider doing anything, Riku darted towards them and held her, pulling her away from him—almost possessively. There was a twinge of what felt of anger as Sora watched his silver-haired rival hold her.

Sora sat there helplessly, as Riku pulled up the frail blonde, his left arm cupping the center of her legs and the other propping her mid-back.

"What are you going to do with her, Riku!" Sora leaped upward, his tone wary and bawling. He did not trust Riku with Serenity, but the problem was he did not know why. Jealousy was out of the question before it could be given a chance, and Suspiciousness felt too uncharacteristic of him. But, then again, he was persistent on keeping those theories away from his thoughts. _Riku is on the wrong side…in the darkness…_ his conscience assured him—with a lie.

Riku scowled at him, jerking the half-awake Serenity away when Sora tried to reach out for her. "Why would you care?" He spat out defiantly. The keyblade master was quickly being a nuisance and, despite Riku's faint surprise at seeing Sora actually uncharacteristically glared at him, he still towered over his ex-friend with a far more convincing glare. It seemed Riku was better even in glaring, and that was an expression that neither boys often used.

"Leave her alone, Riku!" Sora glowered at his silver-haired rival, his fingers closing to ball into fists. Riku snickered, "I am not going to hurt her! I care about her too much to even _think_ that!" The comment sent both teenaged boys to stiffen; Riku out of disbelief that he had said such words, and Sora in confusion and jealousy.

Sora had always hated Riku, had always so passionately envied him. But it was always hidden in the depths of his_ supposedly_ naive mind, for he did not want to admit it. Sora may possess a pure enough heart to wield the Keyblade, but he underwent his fair share of demons in life.

Riku felt as if the last shred of his apathetic personality was torn in two the instant he had said that sentence, the instant he admitted he _cared_. It had only slipped out of his lips; he had not meant to say such a—an emotionally girly thing! He may be thinking somewhat sexist, but he had never felt so different to start thinking otherwise. His stomach constantly churned and his chest felt tight with tenseness—and it was all because of a princess, of a friend. He glanced down at the burden he was unhesitant to carry, his expression serenely gentle. She shivered, cuddling even closer merely to take in Riku's warmth.

Sora stared at the two, straining so not to close his eyes from exhaustion. He had felt so tired after running after Kairi before, and now he felt so very cold. A flush trailed across his cheeks and nose, and he sneezed. But he immediately recovered, forcing himself to keep composed and defiant. "Sora…" He looked up; expecting to see Riku, but his view was imprecise and murky. "Sora?" Riku's tone was more questionable now, almost concerned.

Riku did not feel concerned, did he? He was persistent to keep that sensation out of his minds way. But he still took a cautious step towards Sora, his grip on Serenity tightening protectively. He had to expect the worse; after all, the brunette boy was no longer his friend—he stole a glance down at his blonde burden's sleeping face—she was.

Sora heard the heavy footfalls of his familiar rival. "Get away from—" He sneezed yet again before he could finish off his sentence. Riku lifted one silver brow. The boy was obviously sick, but Riku knew Sora would be stubborn to admit it once he knew. The concern he felt was gone quickly, stomped by his upcoming irritation at Sora's stubbornness.

Sora wiped his face with the rear of his gloved hand. Riku narrowed his eyes to stare at the stubborn Keyblade Master, but then he quickly averted his gaze carelessly to stare in concern down at Serenity. Her eyes barely opened, and he tensed in worry. "Is…" She hardly turned her head to look up at him, "…is he okay?" her voice sounded hopeful, dazed.

Riku frowned. He assumed accurately that she spoke of Sora. "Yeah, beautiful…" He then looked up at the sneezing Sora, "he's a kind of tipsy, but he's fine…" He said it with audible bitterness, but Serenity did not notice as she smiled at what she thought was a joke.

A thump was perceptible to Riku, but he knew Serenity did not have the strength to even strain to hear. He sharply averted his gaze on her, and was dimly surprised at what he saw for view. That scarce surprise brought him to lift his brow yet again. There lie a now sleeping Sora, in a fettle position and sleeping. He rolled his eyes, lips barely lifting in what was the closest thing to amusement. Perhaps old habits die hard for the Keyblade Master?

**- **

_The suns potent glare seemed to wake him from whatever brought him to catnap in the first place. Even with his eyes closed tightly he could still feel the bright gold light penetrate through his eyelids. His blue eyes squinted open. His first sight blinded him, for it was that annoyingly glaring sun. _

_He heard waves gently crashing against a shore, and screeching birdsongs of various seagulls. The soft breeze that swept over his nose felt familiar, the whole enjoyable atmosphere felt familiar. He opened his eyes once more, cautious so not to have the sun blind him yet again. The wide sky of sapphire blue had barely any clouds left, and the ones that did hover over him were as flat as feathers. _

_He gasped, suddenly remembering everything that he had gone through. He jerked up to quickly sit properly. He felt what was around him was only a dream come true, and if he had not kept the fresh stubbornness he would've cried. The small wooden harbor was at his left, with familiar boats that once belonged to him and his old friends. He widely yawned, exhausted, and fell back so to continue lying on the familiar yellow sand. But his eyes were kept open as he fell to lay his head on the ground, and that caused him to be startled as he found a redhead smiling down at him that wasn't there before. _

_He gasped, instantly sitting up again in surprise and somewhat fright. He turned to stare in disbelief into the beautiful blue eyes of the girl. "Kairi…" was it a dream? No. The air felt too real and he could smell the salty water and hear its placid waves. He could see Kairi smiling at him, and the sheepish blush that crept over his cheeks felt more than real. _

_She smiled at him. "Sora you lazy bum! I knew I'd find you snoozing around here…" she giggled, and he felt his ears burn a bright cherry-red. "No," He persisted enthusiastically, "I wasn't! There was this Key, and the island was swallowed by darkness! And then these two weird talking animals and after all these weird things there was a Warp Hole…" He paused, but then continued softly, "And then there was Serenity…" _

_He looked up at her, searching her face, but all he saw was skepticism and amusement directed towards him. He frowned. "Yeah, right…" She crooned offhandedly, walking past him to watch the small waves scurry up the shore. He looked away, averting her so to stare forlornly and bewilderedly at the ground. _

_He had not realized he was glaring mercilessly till she spoke, "Sora? You okay?" She tipped her head to stare more carefully at the boy. She smiled apologetically,"Sorry, I didn't mean to sound sarcastic…" She giggled, "Your dream just sounds so ridiculous!" His fists jammed once into the sand aggressively, and she looked up directly in surprise and, secret hurt. _

"_It wasn't a dream! It's real…! But, you're not real…" tears fell and slid down his cheeks, but he kept his face composed enough for no one to even believe he was crying. The painfully obvious truth hit him, but he did not feel sad that it was only a dream. In fact, he felt the exact opposite. _

_He was suddenly wistful for reality. He wanted to wake up and see the truth again. He wanted to see a real smile, and a real laugh, he wanted to see beautiful deep-blue eyes. He wanted to see Serenity, and to hear her soothing words. If he would have to choose someone to break the disappointing news and tell him he was only dreaming, he wouldn't mind too much if it be Serenity. _

_Kairi frowned at him. "Really…?" Her voice trembled with emotion, but Sora could not tell whether it was anger or sadness that had shook her tone. Her eyes that were once gloomed beneath the red bangs looked up at him. Her eyes seemed weary, and he could only believe himself imagining things when it flashed an odd liquid gold. _

_A noise, sounding almost like a twig snapping loudly, seemed to echo slowly only for him to hear. He now noticed that only Kairi and he were present in that part of the island. A long tremor suddenly shook him off balance, and he had to set his hands outstretched and waving so to keep poised. He looked up, and was horrorstruck as he saw the evident flash of pain on Kairi's pale face. The horror rose higher as he watched her turn into a black creature, almost like a heartless but keeping Kairi's silhouette. Her eye flashed opened to reveal terrifying yellow orbs… _

He gasped, almost screamed, but was seemed to be too exhausted to move more than an inch. He panted hard, chest moving so hastily that he quivered. It felt as if the entire time he had been dreaming, his unconscious self in reality did not bother to breath until now. "Shhh, just breath through your nose…" The gentle voice seemed tender, so caring that it made him shiver more but out of embarrassment. He searched the unfamiliar room, his mind speedily comprehending what was around him. Until his eyes were fixed on the owner of the voice.

Her hair was a peculiar color, shortening into a femininely boyish haircut the shade of deep ocean-blue that shined like ice under a moonlit sky. Her eyes were a royal blue, much darker and more mysterious than her peculiarly beautiful hair. Her complexion stood out from the deep blueness as the palest of auburn in color, almost pasty. She wore a simple white vest over her blue turtleneck, with a lighter knee-length skirt.

He was surprised, as she placed her thumb on his bottom right eyelid and her index finger on his upper lid, forcing his eyes wide open. Then her left index finger glow an icy blue and she used it as some sort of flashlight to peer at his blue pupil. The light surprisingly did not blind him nor burned his eye, but it felt dimly cold as if wintry breeze was probing gently at his eye.

With his other eye he could see her smile, and then she suddenly let go, her fingers' glow disappearing all together. "Well, you don't have a concussion. Are you okay? You seemed a bit forlornly when you slept." She smiled softly at him, a helpful smile that was meant to reassure anyone. "Who are you?" He ignored her inquire, wanting to have his questions answered before anything else. "Where's Serenity?"

The girl was taken aback at his bluntness, but she answered awkwardly, "Amy, princess of Mercury. Serenity is fine in another room." He nodded, and turned to stare at his lap, which was a pointless action seeing as his lap was covered in what seemed of satin sheets. Amy shook her head, and reached out for something at the bedside table. As he was distracted, she plopped a thermometer into his mouth and under his tongue.

He was surprised when she so unexpectedly jammed something in his mouth, but he soon found that it was only a thermometer. He looked at her questionably, almost glaring, but his mouth was currently occupied for him to try any sort of retort. But she still gave him a glare of her own, and he awkwardly let himself act obedient. "Just have to take your temperature, mister…" Amy stopped in thought, suddenly remembering of how she did not know his name. "Sora," he added grudgingly, his words muffled by a mouthful, "But no 'mister'. I don't like formalities." She lifted a brow, but plucked the thermometer off his mouth abruptly.

"Yes, yes…" she mumbled offhandedly, checking the temperature of the thermometer and flicking her wrist to rid of the dribble. She then beamed, "Well, Sora, it seems that you only have a hundred-and-four degrees fever…" She snatched a notepad from the bedsides counter, pocketed for her pen and, once finding it, began to write neat sentences in darkish-blue ink. "It's not too bad. You'll be up and about in no time!"

Sora began to note that it was too dark in the room, and he could not tell what the room actually had. He knew the room had some furniture, because he was sitting on an incredibly comfy mattress, but he still couldn't tell if it was white like the satin sheets over him.

"Here…" His shoulders jerked up in surprise as a narrow bottle was set in front of his view, the urging tone of Amy clipping his thoughts. The glass bottle was clear crystal, revealing the glowing blue liquid that it contained. He stared at it blankly, as if too confuse to express it. But Sora understood the gesture enough, and he brought up his open palms to hold the bottle. She dropped it before he was ready, but he caught hastily in panic.

She persisted on her scribbling on the notepad. "Its Mercury Water, but I like to call it healing rhapsody." She glanced down at him, smiling cheerfully. He noted the candles that just barely kept the room lit, and he frowned. "Drink it. The blueness may seem weird, but it taste's yummy." The suggestion brought him to focus more on the bottle, and he looked at it again.

He tugged off the cork of the bottle, and then felt himself vaguely gasp as a swirling mist began to spew out of the rim, trickling down to gently prickle his fingers that closed against the bottle. It was only mist, and felt refreshingly cool against his fingers. As the small mist gradually vanished, he peeped in to the hole.

Amy giggled, "Its drinkable, y'know." He looked up at her the instant she finished her sentence, and Amy felt the unwanted flush reaping her cheeks. The boy was indubitably handsome, with his pixie nose and boyishly baby-faced features, and to mention the vivid cobalt eyes which couldn't possibly be ignored. She was fortunate that the gloom of the room sent her expressions vague. "Could you let s'more light in, please? I can't really see all that well…" He squinted to see her more visibly.

Amy sighed. "Yes…" She walked slowly to the curtains, grabbed them, and quickly pushed them aside. Sora let his forearm impulsively draw over his eyes, the blinding gold light catching him off guard. As he felt the light had died down enough, he let his hands warily fall to his side. Sora gaped in awe as the familiar bright sun hovered high above the sky. It was a while afterwards when he noticed that the sky was not blue, but of a grayish silver.

"Wow! Look at the sky," He said, pointing an arm at the elegant window. Amy creased her brows at his enthusiastic reaction towards a simple but rare view.

The lunar sky—when in light—was often shaded silver, as the ozone mirrors the silver land of the moon. It was similar to the earth's sky ozone mirroring the shade of its oceans. The moon did not have oceans, but they did have miles upon miles of underground springs. "Yes, it is very beautiful." It was odd, seeing as she had never considered any interest at the sky before. Only till he pointed it out was she able to fond over the silver sky.

She smiled fondly at him. He felt her stare instantly, and he heartily grinned back. "Hey, Amy…" his expression turned curious. "Yes?" She questioned in reply. "How come you aren't at you or own home? The planet murkery?" She wanted to giggle at his mispronunciation of her planet. Many would consider it offending if one had mispronounced there home, but she found it more amusing. "_Mercury_…" she corrected politely.

He smiled, "Yeah, yeah…" he sneezed, and afterwards he felt irritated, his expressions mirroring his feelings. "Well," Amy cut in helpfully, "The reason I'm not in my home planet is because I'm a soldier." A perplexed look creased Sora's brows, "Soldier?" His tone was skeptic. She nodded, promptly expecting his doubts. "A _sailor _soldier of the Silver Alliance." She gave a small but proud smile.

Sora mentally pictured men and women in sailor outfits in a small spiffy rowboat. He chuckled. "What? What's so funny?" Ami said, "I mean, I know that the miniskirts are a little offending, but I don't think it's all that funny." He stared at he confusedly, "miniskirts?" he was not about to imagine soldiers in miniskirts. It was almost scary.

Amy blushed with embarrassment, "uh, well, don't blame me! Women are not allowed to wear pants!" She herself thought the law to be very chauvinistic, but that was her opinion, and princesses kept their opinions to themselves—often enough. "Oh, I'm not blaming anyone. I just thought…" he couldn't put it in more comfortable words, so his expression turned thoughtful.

Amy did not need to know, or sought to. She smiled cheerfully at the boy, politely like many others would with an ill patient. Turning to a high cupboard, she easily tiptoed to grab another bottle. By that time she could hear him heartily gulping down the blue elixir. "Okay, soon enough you'll be able to…" she was still distracted, but as she turned around to steal a glimpse she gasped, dropping the needle to let it clink to the floor.

The Keyblade Master was gone, only to have ruffled sheets and wrinkled large pillows to replace on which he once stood. "Uh oh…"

**- **

The suns glower against her eyelids brought them to slowly open, carefully, so not to gain a headache. She smiled, even when she felt strongly weary.

It was the time of the Wolfs' Moon, having the moon to be in daylight for few days. She was never too use to the blinding light, but it felt comfortable enough for her to dealt with it. Lunarian were people of darkness, believe it or not, because they were virtually never in light. But there darkness meant of yin, the moon, the stars, and the nigh sky. Not of evil or sin have anything to do with it.

She had felt something that was enveloped around her hand the moment she had awakened. She turned her head tiredly, but gasped and instantly flushed when she found a certain silver-haired boy sitting on a stool beside her bed, his head tiredly lain on the mattress as he slept.

Riku's gloved hand was tightly clasping hers, even in his sleep his thumb gently continued to caress the back of her hand. He snored lightly, and at that moment Serenity thought his position was incredibly adorable. She giggled outwardly. But her act caused Riku to stir, moaning out of protest in his sleep. He murmured something that seemed like a muffled pronunciation of her name, and then he smiled.

Serenity began to feel uncomfortable as his hand tightened his grip on hers. "Riku…" She toned urgently, blushing and biting her bottom lip. "Wake up, Riku…" She tried to jerk her hand away, but he only tightened it, growling possessively. She lifted a brow, her lips twitching. It was almost funny when he seemed so childishly possessive over only her hand.

Sighing in defeat, she shrugged up to sit straighter and leaned against the largest of her pillows. "Nice to see you gave up so easily…" She nearly jumped off her bed when she heard the abrupt comment. Her stare sharply turned to the sleeping Riku. He was trying to suppress a smile, as his eyes were shut tightly. She could easily notice his futile attempt to suppress it.

Serenity swiftly pulled her hand away, so to let it lightly slap Riku upside the head. He laughed, opening his eyes and lifting his head off the mattress. He propped his torso with his forearms folded parallel against each other. "Hey, good morning…" He greeted smoothly, grinning his ivory-white teeth. After a moment of pouting and avoiding his face, she said, "Hi," and giggled as she stared at him. "Had a nice dream?"

Riku shrugged, "Yeah, but you woke me up right when it was getting to the good part." He grin turned sly. Serenity lifted a brow yet again. "Oh? And what dream may that have been?" He only laughed, giving her a look that mischievously said he would not tell. She made pouting frown.

"Anyway," he sighed, standing up, "you should rest. I was really…" He paused, not knowing what exactly what he felt the day before. "Worried?" She suggested, her tone having the faintest tinge of hope. He inwardly frowned, but nodded. Then he smiled ear to ear, as if the frown had never been set on his face. "Something like that." the reply did not seem so sure to Serenity or himself.

He grinned nonetheless, and waved for a temporary goodbye. But as he turned to leave, she spoke, her tone panicky and disappointed, "Your leaving? I don't want to sit hear all alone." He turned around to see her staring at him with a childish stubbornness. He personally thought it more adorable than childish.

Riku smirked, but Serenity could not tell if it was sly or friendly. He walked up to her slowly, as if lingering. "Well, you don't have to be alone." He sat himself on the bedside near her. Serenity tipped her head more on one side, curious. She patted her head, ruffling her loose hair and making her giggle. "I'll be here for you, if you want." She was surprised at his kind offer. She then smiled, "I'd like that."

But Riku was not expecting her to lean forward, resting her head on his shoulder and hugging his left arm with both of hers with apparent fondness. He blushed. But unfortunately for him, Serenity noticed the redness on his cheeks. She giggled, "Oh, you should blush more often! You look so cute!" he wanted to jerk away, really he did, but he just couldn't find it in him to do so. Perhaps, he liked it?

_Whoa? Scratch that! _He thought, protesting his last notion, but blushed even more. _Damn, I'm all messed up…_ he sweatdropped.

"Riku?" He jumped up slightly in surprise, and looked down at her once out of his revere. She looked concerned, "are you okay? You're a little too red. Are sick too?" perhaps it was the reason he was staying? Because he was ill too and needed to rest?

But Serenity was oblivious to the true reason, and it was fortunate for Riku. He rubbed his face, an attempt that he hoped would rid of the redness on his cheeks. "No… I-I mean, yeah. Wait what I really mean is…" he frowned inwardly, not sure if what he felt was bad, or good.

Serenity blinked, but afterwards smiled. "Well, if you're sick, too, then you can sleep with me!" The innocently unassuming girl had no idea what the offer could do. Riku nearly fell off the bed when he tired to move a comfortable distance away. Concern creased her brows once more, "Riku, you really are red, y'know." She shrugged, and yawned wearily. "Oh well, I know some Mercury Water could fix that up!" She grabbed the sheet and pulled Riku to fall onto the bed, much to his utter dismay. He was covered in blankets as he yelped, causing his cry to be muffled.

**- **

He had taken one small sip, and the taste was luscious, having a foreign flavor that sent his taste buds flying with glee. Afterwards he had finished it in two mere gulps.

There were a few moments where he had no idea where he was, wandering around the pillar halls and within the palace walls, but he was familiar with the lunar palace enough. He became so accustomed to the soft darkness on the moon that it seemed as if when the sun shined down, the palace seemed completely different.

After a time of aimless walking, he found himself at the foot of the Secret Garden, the sun beating down on it so finely that he felt awestricken all over again. The lush garden that stood before him seemed only scarcely familiar. It seemed more bright and lush than what he could describe under the stars from which he had been accustomed to.

The garden had always seemed pretty at night, but seeing darker shadows under brightly green trees and even the smallest flowers made it seem better. But he had never seen the shadows too dark before on his time on the moon, until now. The whole area seemed more spacious and unfamiliar.

He walked through the garden heedlessly; his palms dug deeply within his dress pants' pockets. He had awakened wearing a plain white dress shirt and matching gray baggy shorts. The thought of someone undressing him in his sleep made him flush in embarrassment, and he mumbled lightly in irritation. It was when he mumbled pointlessly that he heard the light silvery voice that hummed. He lifted his head up from its slumping pose out of curiosity.

He followed that voice, having already being use to the garden labyrinth. It was at the very end of an area unfamiliar to him where he found the owner of the silver voice. He had no idea how he had got in to the beautiful secret room, save for merely following the voice.

"The queen…?" the sun seemed to pale in comparison to the elegant woman's whitish lavender hair. It mirrored the suns blinding glow to let it backfire and shine just as brilliantly with a mix of gold and silver. Her skin seemed appeared so soft and was pale, even when she looked as if she had been under the sun for awhile. Selenity whore a sundress in the color of the palest yellow, bejeweled with white and deep yellow daffodils and having cream-white pearls prettified across beneath her breast.

He walked up to her, but as he was merely three feet away she greeted him, "Hello, young Keyblade Master." She did not turn to look at him, kneeling as she planted small fruit. He blinked, startled, but politely replied, "Good morning, your majesty…" he set himself kneeling beside her. At this, she turned to smile at him, and he offered a friendly smirked in return.

"I am planting..." She explained before he could ask the question in which he had already knew the answer to. "Plants grow more greatly under the sun." He nodded, as if learning. "I heard that you were feeling ill yesterday, and of my daughter…" Selenity paused, but continued to dig deep holes as she stabbed the spade to the dark ground. "I'm sorry about that. Amy says Serenity's fine." He frowned. He had always felt it was his fault somehow.

She smiled, but did not turn to stare at the young boy. "You are familiar with Princess Amy now? How nice. She is one of the more polite among royalty." She murmured, "Yeah, I've noticed," Sora replied, murmuring as well.

Sora stared up at the sky for a moment, "It really light up there." He let his hand shade above his eyes. Selenity nodded. "Yes, I suppose. We lunarians are more use to the stars." He looked away from the sky eagerly, and stared at the older woman. "Why?" He did not mean the question to make him seem clueless, but it did anyway. She laughed. "The closer you are to the light, the greater your shadows become…"

Sora creased his brows, "what was that?" he wasn't sure what she had said, because it was murmured. Selenity turned to him, her brows lifted, "Hm?"

"What was that you said before?" he was inwardly surprised at his own solemn tone. "Oh," Selenity voiced, "The closer you are to the light, the greater your darkness becomes. It was an old saying of my ancestors." She moved to grab another seed, but found the bag empty. After dismissing the thought of coincidence, he noticed the empty bag as well. A though came to mind, and he searched his item stock. Finding what he needed, he grinned.

"Here, you could plant this. I don't think the moon have any tree that bears this fruit…" in his hand was a lush yellow fruit in the plump shape of a star, having short narrow jade leaves sprout out of its tips. Selenity stared at the fruit with curiosity and interest. "What is it?" she toned curiously. "It's a paopu fruit!" Sora answered proudly. He grinned, and Selenity smiled fondly at his enthusiasm. "Would you like to plant it with me?" she asked, having a loving motherly air.

Sora blinked. His fingers closed around the exotic fruit, and he though for a moment. But the though was short, and he grinned broadly, "Sure, I'd really like that, Queen Selenity…"

"Just Selenity. I was never too fond of formalities."

Sora grinned wider, "Yeah…Selenity."

**- **

**TBC **


	6. Chapter 6: A Challenge? What Challenge?

**I don't own anything anime. **

Chapter 6: A challenge? W-what challenge?

His hands patted the ground eagerly, the impact sending small waves of brown dust to scatter. "There, all done, Selenity," He announced, sending a bright smile towards the much older woman. She nodded in return, her smile from only moments ago widening.

"Tell me about this…paopu fruit." Selenity tested the word amusedly, her pronunciation smooth and perfect. She glanced down at the lumped ground that held the said fruit planted. Sora's smile widened, "Well, it's said that if two friends or…lovers," He felt awkward saying that word, "…Share the paopu fruit, then their destinies will forever intertwine." His tone grew more quite as he finished.

In response to his explanation, Selenity was…blushing? He tipped his head to one side, brows creased in confusion. "Oh, how romantic…" She crooned dreamily. Despite her being a well enough queen, she had her weaknesses. Incidentally, romance and cheesy soap opera's were the one of the said weaknesses. Sora cleared his throat, confused and uncomfortable on how the royal woman acted. It seemed that many people on the moon had personalities he had yet to fully understand.

"Well, shall we go then?" Selenity questioned happily. There was a small thought in his mind that considered Serenity being very much like her mother, but he did not go any further than to merely compare the two. Serenity had told him once that she did not want to grow up like her mother. Perhaps Serenity and Selenity had a bit of a mother daughter problem?

"Sora? Shall we go?" Selenity was not aware that she had stopped him of his ponderings with her simple question. He shook his head faintly, and continued to smile widely. "Yes," he assured, "actually, I would like to visit Serenity…" He blushed. Selenity saw this and asked, "Sora, are you alright? Is that sunburn?" This caused the unfortunate Keyblade Master to blush much deeper.

After a few more concern questions spoken by Selenity, and Sora hastily reassuring her that he was fine and did not have skin cancer, they walked in relaxed silence through the hallway completed out of pillars facing parallel towards each other.

It was within that comfortable silence from which he began to think of things. The silence gave him the unwanted opportunity to consider his concerns about the past nights. Even as he had mentioned of his missing friends, Donald and goofy, there still had been no outcome on their whereabouts from the search party that had been sent to find them. And then there was the frustrating fact of him not able to leave the moon or its dimension. Serenity had once cited of a woman who knew of dimensional traveling and time traveling all together, but it was a must to have permission to visit that certain woman in order to have his favors answered.

He blinked out of his thoughts as he heard the perceptibly feminine chuckle. "You can stop walking now, Sora." He noticed suddenly that the Queen of the Moon was by now three yards away from himself. He had been so deep in thought that he wasn't aware he continued to walk while the queen had stop three yards ago.

Sora laughed sheepishly, to avoid his humiliation. Seeing this, Selenity laughed along with him, even as she knew he was only trying to steer clear of the embarrassment that she empathically sensed present.

Suddenly he watched as a soldier came to Selenity's side, and began to whisper to her. She nodded a few, and her face seemed startlingly impassive. He was not expecting the grave look to ever cross the queen, but it was a stupid expectance, for the majority of queens were always solemn even when their heart seemed so hearty and good. Selenity nodded her final, and the soldier marched away.

He tensed as she turned and stared at him, her face still gravely impassive. She walked up to him, and it seemed she walked so briskly that she was in front of him in less than minutes. She smiled, the weighty look of before melting away, and her smile was warm and apologetic. "I am afraid I can not show you the room where my daughter resides, but I am sure someone else will kindly show you. People of the moon are very generous here, so you don't need to feel reluctant to ask anything." She turned to leave, but continued, "I must attend a meeting."

And he disappointingly watched her leave. He was beginning to think of the beautiful queen as a mother-figure to him, that is, until she had to so casually leave him alone. Maybe it was the reason Serenity did not want to be like her mother? Because Selenity was so busy and never had enough time to spend with her only child. Perhaps Serenity did not want to neglect her children when she came of age? It seemed logical enough, but he did not want to think too much of children any further. His cheeks flushed bright red without him desiring so.

"Hello, handsome!" His shoulders jolted upward at the unexpected greeting. He found that the voice belonged to a familiar blonde. What was her name?—Mina?

His blush rose heatedly at the enthusiastic but flattering pet name. "Oh, hello, Mina…" He cringingly shrugged, faintly timid at the princess of Venus and her enthusiastic persona. "What do you want?" His tone was as nice it could get, and he was pleased on how composed he was even when the gorgeous blonde began to skip closer.

He was simpleminded, even he could shamelessly admit it, but he was far from blindingly stupid. Mina was a very attractive young blonde, and so was the blue-haired genius Amy. Even Rie, who he was unquestionably timorous of, was a dark-haired beauty all her own. They had their unique sense of attractiveness, and no human man or women—or other planetary race for that matter—would be as blind as to not notice.

Mina smiled, "I just want to know what's up with you and Serenity." Sora was disturbed at how casual she made it seem, but then he suddenly understood what she truly meant. "Nothing's going on between me and Serenity!" He countered, ignoring her question with no hesitance.

Mina batted her eyelashes against her cheekbones, a very childishly innocent antic from which made it seem as if she had said nothing to offend him. "I didn't say there were anything between you two, did I? I was only asking what's up." She smiled.

She caught him off guard with that statement, and it showed by his expression. The fair-haired princess inwardly smirked. "Could you show me which way Serenity's rooms' at?" He asked suddenly, all too eagerly. Her inward smile instantly flopped downward. "I'll tell you later," She then declared happily. "I want to show you around! You could meet the other princesses!"

Sora blinked, slowly taking a single nervous step back. "Other princesses?" he pondered aloud. Sora was not one to be so keen on astronomy.

Mina pouted, as if offended that he had no clue of her dear friends and fellow princesses. "I know Serenity and Reye, and this other girl who's from mercury…what was her name…?" He was trying to cheer her up by telling her who he knew so-far, seeing as he could not stand to see a girl give him _The Look_, much less one that had a painfully obvious attractiveness.

"Amy!" Mina Squealed joyously to answer his ponderings of the blue-haired girl's name. Sora's brows lifted in mild surprise as he watched her and her hearty actions, and he could not help but wonder if Serenity was related to the Venusians blonde. It was amusing enough to leave his lips unintentionally twitching upward.

"Amy, right…?" disturbed of his thoughts yet again, he had failed to notice when Mina's face seemed to inch its way nearer to his, until now. He jerked back. But her actions were only out of anticipation, of her wanting to impatiently know if her guess was accurate. "The mercury princess is named Amy, right?" He nodded his head slightly in agreement, but felt unsure simply because she looked at him in a strange sort of way.

"Oh, yeah, that's her name," he grinned sheepishly, "She was really nice." Mina's gaze lingered up and down his body, and this made him desperately want to fidget upon where he stood. "I'm sure she was," Mina replied, grinning to herself. He had the mischievous urge to ask her why she was grinning so suspiciously, even as he knew she had meant the grin to be secret. But as mischievous as it was, it was also very rude, thus he kept his smiling lips shut.

He could only wistfully visualize the surprised face if he had ever asked.

"Since you've met the Martian harpy slash princess, and Amy, than you could meet the outer planetary princesses!" She announced, grabbing him by the arm. "Wait a minute, I need to see Serenity first…" he persisted, but it seemed pointless. His reasoning went through one ear and out the other. He sighed in disappointment at his obvious defeat on the conversation. "No fair…" he whispered.

As they arrived in a mammoth sized gym of some sort, Mina introduced him to a girl who seemed to be training in an unfamiliar form of martial arts. "Lita, this is Sora the earthling. Sora, this is princess Lita of Jupiter!" She smiled at the lanky girl, "he's from earth in another _dimension_." Sora looked up, and he couldn't help but feel pathetically short standing before the beautiful, _tall_ brunette.

She gave a friendly smirk, and grasped his hand, shaking it firmly but briefly. "Heard of you few days back. I didn't know you are such a cutie-pie." Sora blushed modestly, noting instantly of her strong grip for a woman, and was reminded of Reye. But she smiled shyly, and blushed, two actions that the Martian princess would not ever do. He was not expecting her to do such things, having previously considered her as tomboyish. Guess he thought wrong.

"He looks like my old boyfriend…" It was Sora's quick ears that pinned the whispered comment, as Lita had leaned closer to Mina's ear. It did not do any good though. "Are all your old boyfriends shorter than you…?" Mina muttered in reply, a bit too noticeably for secrecy. Sora felt inwardly offended by this, but said nothing to retort. Besides, he was short compared to Lita. He began to sulkily mumble incoherent sentences.

But Lita did retort, and shoved an elbow against Mina's ribs. Seeing as the Venusians blonde wore a thin sundress of light yellow, she felt the dull ache slightly stronger. "Owie! Cut it out, Lita!" She pouted, her arms folded against her chest in childish fury.

Lita waved the argument away offhandedly, blowing a brown stray of hair that fell against her dark emerald eyes. She turned to smile at Sora, who watched interestedly as the scene had yet to simplify. "So, did she drag you hear against your will?" He was taken aback by the question, but not by surprise. He did not consider his predicament to seem obvious.

"Mina does it all the time with the guards in the moon palace," Lita explained. "That's because their so stiff! They need to go places, and make some friends!" Mina countered promptly. "Yeah, but your too exhausting for them." Sora's eyes lingered back and forth to Mina then Lita, his brows furrowed.

"_E-exhausting_!" Mina stuttered incredulously. She turned her head sharply to look at Sora, and he straightened himself as if it was a duty to do so that would have dire consequences if not. "Am I exhausting?" Her lips trembled as if she was ready to pout, and he wanted to wince. He shrugged his shoulders slightly, and stuttered, "Uh, ye-yeah…?" He did not mean his tone to be questionable, but it sounded as if he did.

She shook her head, willing herself not to believe it, and she giggled. "Of course I'm not!" She patted Sora, hard, on the back and below his nape. Lita clicked her tongue against the rear of her front teeth, lifting a brown brow of mild bemusement but added with small annoyance. "Yeah, right…"

Mina's cerulean eyes twitched, and she clutched the collar below Sora's nape harder. He yelped, as quietly as he could so not to offend the blonde. He felt if he made any sudden movement, there was a slim chance of her having a fit.

And then he noticed the tears wrinkling at the corner of her eyes us faintly, and at the same time he felt that startling rush of concern. Sora's brows drew close in worry. "You are so _mean_!" She cried, staring pointedly at the brunette of Jupiter.

But Lita casually ignored the gaze, simply to tease. She grinned, and the grin was aimed at Sora, who in turn lifted his brows in faint surprise and bewilderment. For some reason, he could just barely sense the hidden slyness of that grin, and he felt uncomfortably shy about it. He meekly smiled back, shoulders squared as she began to walk cattishly up to him. Mina pouted glaringly.

Still grinning, she placed her slender hands at either of his shoulders. At that moment Sora did not seem to notice her towering height, and saw her as a girl. A very pretty girl that made him felt much shy discomforted at the moment. "Okay, since you introduce me to Sora, I would be _more_ than happy to replace myself as host for him! You can run along now, Mina. Shoo." She waved a hand as if to so casually shoo the blonde away, slinging her other arm around the tensed Keyblade Master's neck.

"No way! He is _my_ guest!" Mina pouted, reaching out to grab Sora's hand. Lita pulled him away. But he yelped when he felt himself stumble back, only to be held firmly once more by Lita. "No, I insist. Wouldn't want you to break a nail, now, would we?" The lanky brunette giggled perkily. Mina stomped her foot, "Why can't you just give him to me! I have a mission to do!"

The entire conversation between the two girls left Sora too confused. He did not understand these girls from other planets, heck he didn't even understand girls in general, but the two that bickered before him where more different. Perhaps it was because they lived and were raised completely different than he or any human was. They probably had an entirely dissimilar way of living than on earth. He frowned, seeing as they still had not stopped bickering, and Lita was getting frighteningly possessive with his shoulders.

"Why don't you both show me around?" He asked quietly, though loud enough for them to hear. They looked at him almost immediately after he said those words, and he grinned helpfully, staring beneath his eyelashes and letting his brows lift high in amusement. Lita grinned, "Aw, you're so smart…" She droned dreamily. His grin wavered a bit, one brow furrowing so the other would lift up in confusion.

"But..." Mina could not find a well enough explanation to retort without having her 'plan' unintentionally discovered. "Oh, _fine_…" She grumbled in agreement…

They continued on to another part of the palace, where Sora suddenly heard a soft melody of violin tunes. "Ooh, Michele is playing her violin!" Lita pointed out, smirking happily. Another tune came in duet with the violin, this time the melody of a piano. "And Amara with the ivories," Mina added, smirking the same," C'mon, lets go!" she grabbed Sora's right arm. Lita wrinkled her nose. "Right, let _me_ show you where they are," she said, grabbing his other arm and tugging him in a gesture to follow. It was then that the two girls began to glare at one another, as either girl tried to pull him away possessively.

"I could walk by myself," he stated uneasily, shrugging off from their grasps, feeling almost amused. He had never been given this much attention in his the whole fourteen years of his life, and it was almost strangely entertaining to see girls have a childish possessiveness only for him. Though he had no idea what would make him seem so attention-grabbing to girls, other than being a keyblade master, and that fact did not even seem interesting to _him_.

"No," Mina whined, "I want to walk you there." Was he some sort of petty pet dog that they could simply order around? He felt sulky upon not having a say in any of this, but he was not even attempting for a retort so he dealt with it among grudging patience. "No," Lita gritted, "_I_ will walk him." She tightened her lithe arms around his left arm, making him flinch as she pulled him closer. "I can walk by myself!" Sora finally snapped, startling the two beautiful girls. He blushed in embarrassment.

"You're so cute when you blush, y'know," Lita gushed, blushing dreamily. Soras blush deepened more, his ears burning bright red when Lita noticed and had began to giggle flattering comments. They were not even _listening_ to him! "Oh, I concur," Mina agreed, "I bet Serenity would love to see you all red." Sora sighed wistfully, and muttered, "Then why don't you just bring me to her?" but it was too inaudible for them to notice.

A few brief twist and turns around elegant hallways, and they were found in a spacious white room filled with airs of music. A handsome blonde boy seemed to be playing the piano that was propped in the center, while a young teal-haired woman stood gracefully with the end of a violin against her chin as she solemnly stroked the delicate transparent strings. He admired the beautiful music that was played by the even more beautiful couple. At least until the two girls—who still managed to grip his arms till they turned numb—dragged him up to meet them.

"Hello, princess Amara," Lita greeted. Amara—who Sora was surprise to figure out as the blonde—smiled attractively at the brunette. Sora turned to look at the other girl, wondering who she would be and not sure what to think. Extremely of elegant beauty, he could see that fact clearly by simply looking at her. She seemed to know he was staring, as she unexpectedly turned to smile at him. He shied away his gaze almost instantly.

"Princess Amara, Princess Michele, this is Sora of earth." Sora heard Mina announce, and he was sharply alert. He smiled at the two musicians, happy once Lita and Mina had let him go. But Amara seemed to narrow her eyes as she stood up from her seat, and he felt like an ant when the blonde _girl_ towered over him.

"Sora, as in the earthling I hear so much about?" She folded her arms, "You'd best stay away from _my_ princess." The warning pitch of Amara's tone made Sora feel strongly timid. Michele elbowed her blonde friend disapprovingly, and Amara instantly grunted in pain, though quickly hiding it by giving a fake cough. She smiled, "My apologies for my friends' manners," She glanced at Amara briefly, "she is very…protective of our princess, Serenity." Princesses protecting a princess? It seemed curious, but he did not want to ask aloud or any time soon.

"I really need to go," He said, taking a step back and placing a hand against his nape, "I need to find Serenity." Michele smiled a small but pretty smile, "I can help you. I know what room she was put in." Sora smiled excitedly. "Really?" he asked with eagerness. "I am following two!" Amara cut in, almost as if protesting. "No," Mina countered, grabbing Lita and Amara by the hand before they could protest any further. "Michele will come back when she's done helping and play us s'more great music. You will stay Amara." Her stare was so critical that even Amara seem to proceed with feeble obedience. Lita was not one to protest to her best blonde friend when she was in one of those Moods.

"Shall we go?" Michele offered her elbow to Sora, and he halfheartedly linked her arm with his. Amara snickered, held back by an indifferent Mina.

**- **

"I'll leave you hear. Just turn that corner and you'll see a white door. That's where she is." Michele pointed a slender index finger towards the said corner. It was not really hard to converse with the teal-haired Neptunian. Throughout the short walk to the room of which Serenity rested, they had talked conversationally. Michele was very easy to chat with, and so they spoke of the weather, the history of the Silver Alliance, and other comfortable things. And even in Smalltalk it seemed more interesting when it was spoken by her. So-far, Michele seemed the most regal out of all the planetary princesses.

"Thanks a lot!" Sora smiled in gratitude. Michele bowed her head, "You're very welcome," she said, and walked away to trek back to her violin lessons at the other room. He eagerly turned the corner once Michele was out of sight, seeing the said door and feeling relieved.

As he attempted to politely knock on the door, he noticed that the door was not entirely closed. He heard voices, so low that he could only hear incoherent sentences. Being the all-too curious fourteen-year-old that he was, he could not help but press his right ear carefully upon the barely opened door.

"Wow, it's so long!" He heard a feminine voice utter in what seemed like awe. "Can I touch it?" The voice seemed more pleading now. "I don't, know…" another voice, "It's a little heavy." The feminine voice answered, "Ooh, but I really wanna!" What exactly were they talking about? He was getting very irritated and the voices where very familiar. Especially the deeper voice!

Before he could react, the door opened, and he toppled to the floor with poor reflexivity. He was staring on the floor at a pair of blue sneakers. "Sora?" He rolled his eyes up to see the said voice who had spoke his name, and found Riku's sapphire eyes staring right back.

"Sora!" Sora turned his head to see Serenity waving a very familiar sword in the air. "Serenity, put Oblivion down! It's dangerous!" He heard Riku scold, as he attempted successfully to stand. Was that what they were talking about? It seemed logical enough. What else was long and appealing other than a sword?

Serenity hugged Sora affectionately once stepping out of the large bed, her right cheek cuddling against his chest. Sora grinned, hugging her back with the very same friendly affection. "Riku and I were just about to look for you!" She said, sounding relieved. Unbeknown to the two, Riku seemed to narrow his eyes out of irritation. "_I _was going to take Serenity to the Secret Garden," Riku shrugged, "but she _insisted_ that we visit you first…" he huffed, folding his arms against his chest.

Sora smiled fondly at the thought of Serenity's concern for him. "Then what are we waiting for!" He said happily, "We could all go together!" Serenity laughed as Sora picked her up while still embracing her, having a playful demeanor. Riku inwardly groaned.

But the door opened wide, and there stood the dark-haired Martian. Reye lifted one dark brow, having a scarce frown sink her lips downward. The young girl had her hair tied into a painfully tight bun, but she by her expression it only seemed more painful then it truly felt.

Serenity stared at the lot of bright blue roses that Reye gripped, and her smile broadened, yet her expression could not entirely convey the brilliant glee she felt. "Reye!" She ran towards the girl and embraced her, and Reye grunted at the tight impact, but smiled.

As the blonde Lunarian let go, Reye sighed in relief, and offered the lot of blue flowers to her. "I got this for you. The Blue Rose. Its one of your favorite, right?" Reye said softly, her smile turning apologetic. "Are you okay? I heard you got sick." She gently laid the lot of flowers upon Serenity's hands, and in response Serenity cuddled it against her chest fondly.

"I am…sorry," Reye confessed slowly, almost grudgingly. It was obvious the Martian princess was not keen on apologizing to anyone. "If I hadn't thrown you in the fountain, then you wouldn't have been ill." But even as her words seemed logical, Serenity was not mad at all. The blonde slung an arm against Reye's shoulders, hugging her with one arm. Reye grunted in protest.

"You shouldn't really feel bad. Wouldn't want you to go all soft on your planet, do ya?" Serenity grinned. Reye scowled, shrugging the blondes arm off and folding her arms. "I did not say I was going soft!" Serenity shrugged, and smiled. "I'd like you to meet my friend, Riku!"

As all eyes were pinned on the Silver-haired boy, he froze. "Eh…" He chuckled, "Hey." A few moments before, he was inching his way to the closest thing to an exit, which happened to be a window. But his attempt was futile when he heard his name uttered and the Martian stared at him.

Reye lifted a dark brow once again. She had seen him when she came into the room, but did not think of him of any importance, till now. "Hello…" She greeted, frowning. She glanced at Serenity questionably, "Another earthling?" Serenity nodded her head enthusiastically, seeming to forget Reyes anti-fondness of Earth. But the Martian princess chuckled nonetheless.

"I thought you had Sora, Serenity?" Reye asked suddenly. Sora, hearing his name upon the conversation, looked up from whatever he was distracted into. Serenity shook her head. "They are both my friends!" She stated happily. Reye shook her head disappointedly over the blondes' ignorance, "I did not mean _friends_, Serenity. It not good for your image if you start two-timing—"

"Okay, that's enough talking for one day." Sora cut in, laughing nervously. Riku seem to frown profoundly, inwardly protesting of such a thing. Serenity ignored the thought as if she still was ignorant of the fact. "Not two-timing," Riku stated, his sapphire eyes staring at the Martians' mauve ones, "It more of…a challenge for us men." He smirked. Reye seemed pleased, "I like challenges very much…" She turned to Serenity. "Your very lucky to have such a fine man on your heels, girlfriend. I'd take him myself if you ever go for Sora instead!" Riku laughed at the seemingly harmless joke.

Sora frowned. Somehow—though the theory of having Serenity chose him over his rival being quite appealing—he still found the comment of Reyes being rather offending. Serenity blushed, "I do not know what you're talking about!" She folded her arms, "After all! I am getting married!" although she hated that fact to the very core of her anger, Serenity had to think of something to defend her with, and marriage just happened to slip out.

The very thought of Serenity's fiancé made Sora feel feeble and without chance, but it made Riku livid. Reye watched their expressions amusedly. "Triangle love can be a bitch…" She muttered. "Love itself can be a bitch…" Riku muttered right back, and Reye smirked, not surprised that the silver-haired boy had heard her whisper.

**-**

**-**

My birthday passed on March first. Hehe, I am officially a pre-teen. Sooo, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I am real busy, 'cause of all the final exams and projects I gotta do, so be patient please! Sorry for the profanity in the ending!

**SachiNyoko**: Heh, I don't really think it was all that great, since I wrote it at three o'clock in the morning and was too tired to check the mistakes properly. Regardless! Kairi will meet Serenity, but that all I'm gonna say. :D I can't tell you too much. Hehe, and I would laugh too if I ever considered Riku snoring like Homer Simpson! Ooh, that would be great for blackmail! Heh, and wouldn't Sora make such a nice son-in-law? (Hint, Hint) ;D

**Super Sailor Star Element**: Your review made me literally laugh at myself. Weird, I know. But it was so odd it was funny! I wonder how I could mistake wore with whore... Well, don't blame me; blame my lack of sleep while writing that chapter… You could blame my lack of sleep on this chapter, too. Hehe.

**Grunt Hunter Croix**: Check out Krys Yuy's "A Senshi in Hyrule" if you haven't already read it. I really loved that Zelda/Sailor Moon X-over! Thanx for the review, buddy!


	7. Chapter 7: Discussions of the Earth

I am Sooooo sorry if this took too long! Like I said before, I am mega busy on things. This chapter is just a small part of what would happen next, like an arranging of some sort, so I don't expect it to be all that interesting. It is one something in the morning so I have no time to proofreading right now, sorry.

**I don't own anything anime. **

Chapter 7: Discussions of the Earth

At the few times he had met her, he had never expect her to be anything but nice to him and attentive for only him. She never really ignored him, unless his certain silver-haired rival was around. He truly hated being ignored this very moment, though it was wrong to be greedy over a girl. Even if that certain girl was a kindhearted, royal, _beautiful_ princess of a virtually immortal race. But, how could he _not_ be possessive over a beautiful possession? A possession he was not even sure he owned yet.

Sora groaned in his dismay. He was comparing Serenity to a possession? It did not seem right. Everything he was thinking did not seem right! He did not even know what his thoughts meant. But, he did not want to know either, even when it was trying to let him understand. He did not want to understand, not right now. Too depressed and grudging, maybe.

They had retreated from the large white room, mainly to escape Reye's taunting and her suggestions that were completely misunderstanding. Reye seemed to think of the three more than simple friendship, and Sora knew that it annoyed Serenity very much. It seemed the blonde Lunarian did not enjoy being judged too quickly among love-life. But, Reye had said that Serenity had many suitors at her heel and obeying her every whim somewhere around the conversation that he couldn't remember exactly when.

At the thought of suitors, Sora frowned. How was he going to have a chance with his blonde friend if she was too busy with other men? Suitors even? It seemed selfish, but he wanted her all for himself—for friendly activities, of course. Serenity was the only one he knew that never ignored him when he needed attention, or compassion. And he valued his friendship with her because of that, so much that he would not change it for anything. But, what was _anything_ exactly? Perhaps for certain people it would be—_metaphorically_ speaking—love?

But these thoughts were ignored and hidden beneath his sulky mood at the moment, so he was practically not even contemplating what he thought. "C'mon, Serenity, It was a joke! I could never think of you that way." He could hear Riku complain. The Silver-haired boy seemed to want the blonde's full attention.

But she hardly even gave him half of it. She strutted up the lengthy hallway of pillars, Riku stalking right beside her, and Sora walking behind either of them, watching the scene unfold with furrowed brown brows and a sinking frown. Riku's pleads of forgiveness was highly uncharacteristic of him, and if Sora wasn't so troubled he would have laughed without hesitation.

"A joke? That was really hurtful y'know!" Each step she took began to thud harder against the hallways' floor, "I refuse to even joke of some challenge that serves me as some trophy for a chauvinistic boy like you!" Serenity had her arms folded tightly, her eyes never staring at the boys' face. It was fortunate that Serenity did decide to look away, because her glare could've frightened either boy out of their pants.

Riku gave his most sincere, charming smile. "Serenity, please, Just look at me." He was a boy who knew how to weave his way out of predicaments, and his knowledge was from useful past experiences. Besides, who could resist his smile?

Sora could think of many who could resist the overconfident silver-haired boys' charm, but most of them where simply guesses, so it did not seem to help his mood. "Besides, you kinda hurt my feelings when you talked about your, err, fiancé." Riku confessed, though slightly bending the truth. Serenity turned to stare at him, her expression no longer livid, but bewildered. "Why?" She inquired, her expression blank with confusion.

Was that supposed to happen? Sora presumed not, because Riku did not seem to expect the question. So much for a smooth talker…

"Uh, well, because…" Riku glanced at Sora, "say, did you see how jealous Sora looked!" He laughed, nervously, and placed a hand against his nape. Changing the subject was a cowardly act, but Sora had done it many times before, as a result it was not too much of an offending remark. Though, it was offending nonetheless.

"Whoa?" Sora glared at the silver-haired wielder of Oblivion, his lips only slightly parted in disbelief. Riku gave a look that said, _roll with it!_ And it took that sharply demanding look of which Sora so grudgingly agreed. Why was he even falling helplessly and agreeing to Riku's every command anyway? He disserved better! Perhaps, somewhere in his fourteen-year-old mind that he seemed to neglect, he still had a dim hope of befriending Riku once more? But, the possibility only seemed so wistfully far away.

"Jealous?" Serenity mimicked softly, her cheeks flushing. Sora sighed at the considerable misunderstanding. He did not approve of lying very much, yet here he wondered why he had ever put up with an ex-friend such as Riku. "Let's go, Serenity." He suggested with a soft-spoken tone, offering a smile. He was not sure what he felt for his blonde friend, but it may have been somewhere along the lines of attractiveness. He did not want to go back to his prior thoughts again; hence he shook his head to rid of them.

"Don't listen to him. His ego is too big to admit that he L…" He stopped instantly, almost horrified at what he said, and he was sure Riku felt the same at the moment. But Serenity bit her bottom lip, and ignored him and his remark.

Sora was not sure if she knew what he was about to say seconds before, but he allowed himself to desperately believe she didn't. She had so many depressing concerns right now. He knew her better, even if she would ever deny it. Marriage for duty, a neglectful mother, and the destiny she never wanted. He had no right to add more demons to trouble her mind. Besides, Riku did not…care for her that way. He was sure of it—_telling_ himself it was not true.

"His ego is too big to admit he Lie's a lot," Sora repeated, having a quick backup lie himself. Riku parted his lips to make a quick retort, but just as quickly decided no. Sora, to Riku's mild surprise, seemed to have a sad glint in his blue eyes.

Now _he _was lying to her? It made Sora feel bitter, and unhappy—more than he already was at the moment. But she smiled, almost grateful, and laughed with a cheery mood instantly resurfacing. Her expression made it hard not to smile back, and he willingly mirrored her expression with renewed confidence—all because of him knowing of her happiness. That was enough to make him happy any day.

She placed an arm upon either boy's shoulders, and pulled them into a hug in a gesture of forgiveness and friendliness. "You really know how to make me all happy again, Sora." She mumbled, giggling. "And," She turned her gaze towards Riku, "I will get my payback later." Her smile twisted into an impish grin. And Riku, although faintly wondering what she was up to, smirked at her grin from which he loved to see upon her pretty lips.

Though both boys enjoyed the friendly embrace, it was quickly withdrawn. The reason for this was a bleeping ring-tone coming from the petunia-pink jewelry watch Serenity owned which clasped against her left wrist. "Oh, it's Puu!" She mumbled once her eyes found the older woman's face upon the small vid-cam.

"Puu?" Riku wondered, one silver brow lifting at the awkwardness of such a name. "Puu…that's a weird name," Sora muttered quietly, but Riku's quick ears heard it just in time. It was an offending statement, but Riku was sure Serenity was not able to hear the whisper. "Be polite," He whispered back, scathingly. Sora stuck his tongue out for silent mocking, but it only proved as a childish act to which Riku rolled his sapphire eyes in response.

Serenity clipped the watches' lid close, and the _click_ sound brought the two boys out of their quarrying instantly. Serenity smiled, and the boys noticed it was an apologetic one. "I have to go. You two could go to the garden without me." Sora frowned and simply inquired, "Why?" Riku shoved him aside for a moment, "Yeah, I was about to show you a surprise!" He stated, holding back a fuming Sora in the background.

"My mum wants me to see her. It's real important, I guess." She leaned over and kissed both boys' on the right of their cheeks. "I'll see you later, okay?" She giggled. "Uh, yeah, whatever…" Sora mumbled numbly, reddening furiously and appearing dazed. "Maybe just one more kiss, for luck?" Riku joked, chuckling, though his right hand simply could not stop rubbing the kissed cheek.

Serenity giggled. "Wish I could stay, honestly," She shrugged, "But my mum has a strict rule about punctuality." Her smile seemed almost rueful now. "My mom has a strict rule about…everything." Sora smiled, brows lifting, having the expression of gentle reassurance.

Serenity wasn't surprised by the helpful gesture, and needed it somewhat. Sora apparently figured that she had rows of concerns in her life, and wanted to help by that one smile. She could tell that much. Empathy was good sometimes, though she still wondered achingly as to why Riku and Sora continued to feel an unrelenting rivalry towards one another.

Serenity shook her head only slightly, just to let go of those nosy thoughts. "Bye," She mumbled, and then quickly turned to run off.

Once her figure was out of sight, the halls seemed to quiet down till they could actually hear footfalls scurry along upstairs. The silence was uncomfortable for both, if not annoying.

Indifferently, it was Riku who interrupted the silence and drowned out the footfalls with his own voice. "I'm leaving…" There was no particular reason that he would have to let Sora know he was leaving, but he didn't care. "Wait, _where_ are you going?" He heard Sora demand, and even still he was not fazed. Riku turned so Sora could only see his back, and he began to walk away.

"You don't expect me to let you wonder around!" Sora stated angrily. Riku glanced over his shoulder, sharply, and grumbled, "And why _not_?" The Keyblade Master gave a perceivably gallant expression, and it annoyed Riku a bit. Since when had the boy acted in such a way? When they were younger, Sora was much different than the boy he glared at before him.

"Your not really one to trust," Sora stared towards the sword that Riku gripped, "what do plan to do to this world? Fill it with heartless till it vanishes completely?" His voice had risen when he finished his sentence. For a moment, the silver-haired boy did not speak, almost wondering, but then glared at him.

"You've been waiting, haven't you? Waiting till Serenity was gone so you could freaking interrogate me." Even if it was expected of him to render a world within darkness, he would never think of destroying the grounds he stood upon. Not for the sake of Maleficent. He had come to this world for different reasons than to snatch pure hearts.

Riku scowled. "I did not come here to destroy it, and even if I _did_ it would already be in ruins much earlier." The reason almost seemed believable. Sora's anger simmered to a stop, but he still felt suspicious. "Then, what did you come here for?"

"Why would you care?"

"I don't…"

"Fine."

"_Fine_."

There was a pause, and the uncomfortable silence was present once more. But the briefness of that silence was prompt. "So…why are _you_ here? And where's your odd new friends?" Riku was not hesitant to ask. Sora frowned. "Crashed Highwind into a warp hole. Goofy and Donald, well, I don't really know where they are." The tip of his ears reddened as he heard the deep laugh as Riku's rude response.

"Should've figured you'd crash something..." He paused, but quickly added, "Highwind?" Sora blushed out of embarrassment. "Yeah, I named it after the raft, because I wanted to remember…" He stopped. Riku was almost flattered that his ex-friend would do such a thing. Sora sighed.

"Wow, you two have issues."

Riku shoulders perked up in surprise. "Luna!" He heard Sora say, the boy's tone being changed from defiant to happy. "Say what?" He glanced at his sides, but he still could not find this Luna person. A cat suddenly jolted into Sora's readied arms. "Haven't seen you in awhile, Luna."

Riku lifted one brow. Was it just him, or was the kitten talking? More peculiarly, was Sora talking to the kitten? "Eh…" He stared at the purring feline that Sora seemed to deem as a Luna.

Sora found Riku staring from a brief glance. "Riku, this is Luna. Luna this is my cocky rival." The cat seemed to smile in greeting. "Hello there. Pleased to meet you, Cocky Rival," Luna purred, "you're cute." Sora scrutinized the silver-haired boy's expression. Even when it was purposely hidden, he could still see the bare hint of surprise Riku's icy sapphire eyes.

"A talking cat," Riku lifted one brow, "I've seen a talking cat before, but I didn't expect one on the moon…" Luna's dark tail gingerly swayed from one side to the other in mild amusement, her cattish smile broadening strangely. He shrugged, turning one foot to begin his casual disperse away from the oddball kitten and the one who held her.

Luna felinely leaped off Sora's arms, and landed on all fours against the floor. She instantly began to stalk after the silver-haired boy with brisk baby steps once her paws hit the floor. "Wait for me, Cocky Rival." Riku glanced down sharply. "Don't call me that," He ordered. "And stop following me!" The black cat smiled again, replying, "Okay, Cocky Rival," and continuing her stalk on him.

"I think someone has a crush on you," Sora pointed out, blinking at the strangeness of the cat's behavior, "though I can't imagine why…" Riku glare at him. Sora's gaze wandered sideways, his expression bored.

"Why not?" Riku questioned irritably. The brunette boy shrugged, "never mind." Riku narrowed his eye at such a casual response, but was stop short of his suspicions when the familiar black kitten decided to make itself re-known, and leap onto his left shoulder.

**-**

The marble floor was in tiles of crystal-blue, going for at least fifty yards till it reached its end. The dinning table could have fitted a hundred people, almost matching the length of the room itself. It was ridiculously large, but it had some uses in luncheons and banquets.

In one of those hundreds of elegant seats Serenity slumped on in boredom, awaiting her mother and ready for anything that would be told. She assumed no news was too shocking, seeing as the Lunar Utopia that was her home was as heavenly as heavenly could get.

Guards had the dutiful courtesy to open the large, heavy double doors before her mother would walk in. Serenity turned her gaze from the wall to stare boringly into the lunarian queens silver eyes. She had never known how her mother would have such silvery eyes, and which family gene she had inherited it from. But it wasn't really a pressing subject, so she never asked.

"Serenity." Selenity nodded her head in a regal greeting. "Selenity," Serenity greeted with the same formality with less keenness. She watched as the older woman sat across the width of the table. She began to be discomforted at the silence that was thinning her patience.

Selenity found herself sighing deeply. She was unsure of what her only daughters' response would be of the news she was informed only moments ago. Whether Serenity would fill with glee or downright bawl with anger was a mystery. Serenity was always vague with her, and even at some occasions she was somewhat aloof.

"What?" Serenity could not help but ask. It was not often she was impatient, but somehow her mother managed to change her character in things with her slowness. Selenity, having the slightest hint of surprise place her frown, was now forced to ready herself to speak.

"As you know, you were due to visit Earth months later…but things have changed," She carefully stared at her young daughters expression, "You will leave for Earth tonight, due to…particular reasons." Serenity did not see why her mother seemed anxious. Perhaps she was worried, timid of her even.

"Why?" Although she was thrilled to be leaving to the one place she had dream to visit since childhood, she still was curious as to why it was moved to an earlier date, and was even faintly suspicious. "That's not for you to know," Selenity snapped suddenly. Her hands drew to her lips, for she had not meant to sound irritated.

"Sorry," Serenity mumbled, shrugging her back deeper against the tall backrest of the seat that towered compared to her height. Selenity could not apologize. She felt sorry, but she had gone to far to turn back now.

**-**

"I met her a few moments after I came to this world. She was bit…irritated," He explained. "By you, no doubt," the brunette commented mockingly, but out of good-humor. He jabbed an elbow lightly onto Sora's ribs in response for the unneeded remark.

"What about you, Bath Boy?" Riku smirked as he noticed the cherry-red blush against the Keyblade Masters cheeks. "That was an accident," Sora muttered irritably. "Who told you that?" He had forgotten about the entire incident, and was not pleased to find that Riku was the one to remind him.

"Serenity mentioned about a boy, I just assumed it was you," Riku bluntly responded, "And now that you stated it, I _know_ it was you." Sora was lead right into a simple trap. How long did it take the silver-haired boy to mentally plan it out, really? He flushed harder, mutually frustrated and mortified.

Riku would've smirked, could've, but he didn't. Instead, his frown seemed to sink at the very mention of The Baths. He found very interesting rumors about the princess and an earthling boy, besides him, that included a very over exaggerated bath scene. He wanted to know…

"What really happened in there?" Riku muttered his question irritably, almost reluctant. "Look," Sora sighed, "nothing happened. _Nothing_." He glared at the floor, almost seeming as if he had been speaking to it.

"That's not what it heard." Both boys seem to have forgotten about the black kitten that had appeared to stalk them both, but seeing as Luna had promptly—and rudely—spoken up, their head turned to see her sitting in-between the two.

They had almost forgotten exactly where they were at the moment as well, which was yet again in the Secret Garden. Sora had suddenly felt at home on the moon from every moment he spent in the gardens labyrinth, and had became more and more eager to search its walls and where to go.

Somehow he still couldn't remember where he had crash-landed, but Sora knew it was somewhere within the Secret Garden, somewhere very dark. Maybe Luna would know, seeing as she was the one who had led him out of the maze and who had found him. Everything seemed but a vague memory, and all he could remember where the times with the princess.

Somewhere in the depths of his fourteen-year-old mind that was ignored for some reason, he felt selfish and wrong. Somewhere in his mind it told him angrily, _what about the Keyblade?_ _What about Goofy and Donald?_ They couldn't expect him to wait in a palace of luxury while hearts were being taken from all other dimensions and his ally's probably been seriously wounded—or worse—could they? And yet, to his horror, he did just that.

_What about Kairi! _In the depths of his mind, those words were the loudest of the three.

Riku wanted to be left alone for awhile, to supposedly think. The garden was always serene, almost ghostly, and he had singled out the highest leafy wall he could find so to simply lean on it and think of the nights he had spent on the moon.

But thinking was better when it did not accompany an annoying lovesick kitten—who could talk!—and a fourteen-year-old rival that he did not want to see at the moment, or any other time.

To put it simpler, he wanted to be _alone_. Was that so much to ask? He didn't know anymore, and yet he did not enjoy being ignorant. Being in love did that to many, but the problem was he did not know he was in love, and even if he did there is a strong possibility of denial. He wanted to control his head, and the feelings that tipped his emotions to the edge. He wanted to know what those feelings were. Somehow it seemed wrong on liking those feelings, but it was hard to hate it.

It was all Serenity's fault, and he hated her for that, yet at the same time felt grateful. Well, he tried to hate her, but in truth she was almost impossible to hate…

"There you are…" as both boys were struck out of thought yet again, they glanced down from there seats at the peak of a thick maze wall, simultaneously seeing two familiar blonde rolls of hair.

Serenity smiled, her blue eye twinkling more brilliantly than their usual childish glints. Her hand was over her brows so to shade her eyes from the suns array of light. Even still she had never been use to the sun too much, but was use to it enough to stand it. "Come down," She called gently, loud enough for both to hear.

Riku bounded down at once, startling Serenity when he landed inches beside her. She jumped slightly, but laughed. "I got something to say to you two," She began, looking up again as if waiting for Sora to come down from the towering wall of bush.

Sora watched them from the peak for a time, his expression blank but never cold. He effortlessly leaped downward, but once his feet met the pebbled grown he slightly lost balance. Yelping in surprise, he fell clumsily to the floor on his rear end. Riku did not seem to find it funny for some reason and merely watched on as Serenity amusedly helped him to his feet, speaking out inquires of concern. Sora laughed sheepishly. "I'm alight," He assured briskly, blushing and grinning broadly.

"What were you going to tell us?" Luna had popped out of nowhere, surprising all three as she was laughing affectionately upon Riku's left shoulder. Riku grimaced mentally, but frowned outwardly. The kitten was not even mentioned in this conversation at all, and yet she still prolonged to interrupt.

"Luna," Serenity beamed cheerfully, opening her arms wide as a welcoming embrace. The cat, quite happily, leaped into the blondes arms, to which Serenity eagerly cuddled the kitten against her chest. At this Riku was relieved somewhat.

"What _were_ you going to tell us, Serenity?" Sora asked curiously, feeling almost envious of the cat that was so luckily embraced with such affection by the blonde. "We are going to earth _tonight_…" was the blunt, cheerful reply. Sora blinked, Riku lifted one brow, and Serenity beamed.

Somewhere around the moment of silence Luna had managed to return to Riku's shoulder, much to his dismay and irritation.

**-**

**-**

A/N: Luna seems to have crushes on human guys in the Sailor Moon series, like Yaten and that blonde guy with the astronaut girlfriend. So, I think she would have some kind of puppy-love (err, kitty love?) on Riku. Yet again, I am SO sorry for not updating faster and sorry if this isn't really an interesting chapter. Just roll with it, pretty please? 

**Clueless97**: Heh, thanx…glad you like the triangle love. And the bath scene? Well—though it was completely accidental—Serenity walked in on Sora when he was buck naked. I thought that women were always being the one in the bath while men walk in on them by accident, so I decided to let the girl be walking in on the boy, and not the other way around... OOC, huh? Well, he is cool and composed, but he does have an adventurous side! All teenagers do, I suppose. I read the profile on him on that pamphlet thingy that came with the game, so I tried to make it similar enough, but they gave so little detail about him. Aw, screw it, at least I tried! The reason why he acts all confused is because of his feelings towards Serenity…I don't think he knows yet. ;D

**SachiNyoko**: Actually, I think all soap operas are cheesy, but I never really like watching them all that much, except when my grandmamma forces me to watch it and hogs the TV so I can't watch anime (Mumbles). Kairi will meet Serenity, but I am not sure if it's soon. But, Serenity will meet her in a place that is probably unexpected. Probably. Goofy and Donald will show up, too, but I ain't telling you when either. Hehe, am I teasing? Hope not. Ooh, I _concur_, concur is such an under-used word. Hehe, concur, I like the way it rolls off my tongue. (Sweatdrops) guess I'm a loser, too, hehe…

**Angle-Goddess**: OMG! You're Angel-Goddess! Your comments flatter me so much! Before I say anything else I like to say that I am a big fan of your fics! Hehe, I agree, SachiNyoko sure has good taste! But, then again, I can't say bad things about my fic, now, can I? Well, not all the time anyway… (Sighs) I want a plushie, too. Maybe of every cutie-pie RPG character out there! Both the good boys _and_ the bad guys. Thanks for the review!

Sayonara …

Little ol' me, _S. Nestor_

Read & Review, REVIEW, review, ReViEw…_or else_

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	8. Chapter 8: the Pink Room

**I don't own anything anime… **

Chapter 8: the Pink Room

Sora was not sure how they would leave to Earth, but he had felt too anxious to ask questions. Riku had wandered off _somewhere_, with no explanation of why whatsoever. He was half-expecting that the silver-haired boy was no longer on the moon. Although it was more of hoping than expecting.

Luna, after brooding over the missing Riku, had joined him for a sort of aimless walking throughout their waiting. Serenity was fond of her cat dearly, so much that she would actually let her travel around with her. But he had kindly offered to watch over the black feline, seeing as her broodings appeared to be much of a burden.

Sora was never reluctant to ease Serenity of her stress, for he often noticed that the blonde looked nervous as well, timid even. He knew by her expression that the particular visit was to be her very first one, and that she did not have time to baby her cat when she was supposed to prepare for her dream visit to Earth. Therefore, he was now the temporary charge of Luna.

Serenity was ushered to leave Sora in the garden due to the many who called for her assistance that concerned the traveling enchantment for Earth. She was too busy, and had to begin preparations for her first moment of travel, which was to begin hours later. As for the brooding black cat, well, she had finally stopped, but still remained inwardly moaning in her spare bits of sulkiness that appeared just barely present.

He was somewhat glad that Luna was quiet throughout his dilemma, perched on his shoulder while her tail constantly coiled and uncoiled gently around his neck, setting him in a state of controlled discomfort. He would best prefer having a ticklish tale snaking uncomfortably on his neck rather than an ever-talking cat that went _on_ and _on_ of how she missed her silver-haired knight-in-shining-armor. It was enough to let Sora gag at every purring word.

Perhaps _Luna_ was partly the reason of why Riku left? Sora, at the moment, could not blame the guy for leaving, but if Riku was here than he would have been kitty-free. Sora would not forgive Riku easily for leaving him with the sulking young cat. If Riku had still let himself be stalked by Luna, then she wouldn't really be nagging and taking it out on Sora, now would she? They were of selfish thoughts, but Sora believed that he had every right to think in such a way from what he had suffered through with the silver-haired rival.

At this very present, the two momentary acquaintances wandered heedlessly around the lower section of the palace, the only noise being heard were the scurrying of footfalls yet again, added with some sorts of incoherent conversations that were arising upstairs.

"Do you think Riku would be on Earth?" Sora's right brow barely twitched. Right when the silence was _slowly_ turning comfortable, Luna could not help but ask that question. For the **_twentieth_** time.

But the brunette Keyblade Master was not as keen among impatience as most, and he groaned in reply, "_Probably_…" before quickening his pace, almost jogging as he tried to shake off the cat's train of thought before she could continue a second inquire.

"_Really_?" Luna's ears rose till they appeared similar to paralleled ebony triangles. Although the black feline had heard the same answer to every question she had ever asked during the last thirty minutes, the mere possibility gave her a sort of desperate hope, and every '_probably_' she had been given as a reply was upping her confidence. Though she seemed to enjoy the answers, it was the one who constantly replied those answers who was not enjoying the senseless questions she asked every five minutes.

But Sora did not bother to answer that question this time. He felt that if he replied she would just ask more questioned concerning his reply. It had happened every other time she nagged, so he took that chance. That was until he found familiar sharp claws piercing his cheek, again. He yelped, furiously shrugging the cat off of his shoulders.

"What'd ya do that for?" He exclaimed, almost incredulous, but definitely enraged. He felt his jaws clench shut in somewhat horror when he saw the small cat, biting hard on its furry bottom lip, bared glinting crystal-clear tears at the corner of her cattish, blood-red eyes. "Eh…" Before he had even _considered_ apologizing, she let out a loud cry.

Though Fate seemed to be extremely fortunate for him today, and one certain blonde came rushing to the rescue, "It's a good thing I found you!" Sora found that the one who had spoken ran up to grab the fallen Luna, and the small cat seemed to stop her bawling almost immediately. He felt his frustration steadily dispel, as he stared into the pale blue eyes of…

"Mina," Sora mumbled, confused. "What are you doing here?" He was half disappointed that the princess of Venus was not the certain blonde he thought her to be. But they did look nearly alike, it was a fair mistake. Mina pouted glaringly at him, "Looking for _you_, of course!"

He frowned, "Me?" Sora pointed an index finger to himself in question. He still didn't understand why they seemed so obsessed with him. Such peculiar species, women were—or maybe it was just the girls from other planets? Sora scratched his head in wonder.

Mina rolled her eyes, but giggled, as she watched his thoughts be mirrored by his facial expressions. "Yeah, you." She took his hand, urging him to follow. She then turned to Luna, "Were gonna visit Artimes, kay?" at the mention of the name, Luna grinned her familiarly strange grin at once.

"Who's Artimes?" Sora asked, just barely strutting at a fair pace with Mina, who seemed to take hasty wide steps as they sauntered through the long hall. "Artimes is a cat, my cat to be exact…" Mina responded distractedly, still gripping his hand, nearly dragging him if not for his own trailing feet.

Quite quickly, she led him through several spiral staircases, through random rooms, and finally to a very large, very _pink_ room. He stood in the center of the room, bewildered as he pored over the room and its furniture.

The fluffy, pale pink lazy-boy sofa looked invitingly comfy, beside it laid a white-and-pink elegantly carved counter with a large vanity mirror atop. The bed itself was covered with pink and white satin sheets, having a thin, pleated white curtain encircled around the top supporters, covering it from eyes view. The carpet was as fluffy as a teddy bears fur, colored another shade of pink that reminded him awkwardly of blushes. They were many other pink things in the room, and he felt that his dark blouse and Bermuda shorts clashed with the lighter colors noticeably.

He noticed soon afterwards that there was a light purring noise coming from within the curtain of the bed, and he narrowed his blue eyes to better his sight. Mina eagerly pulled back the drapes, and Sora noticed a white bundle of fur coiled idly, with a furry white mouth that opened up to languidly release a squeaky yawn. Mina ignored the white cat, but sat beside it.

The blonde grinned welcomingly at Sora, who felt unsure but smiled dimly in return. Mina patted the satin sheets to her left, as if silently asking him to sit beside her. He understood, but a feeling told him he might regret it if he ever complied. After all, the blonde Venusians was one of the two women who had played tug-of-war with his arms only hours ago.

He decided to sit across from her, on the fluffy pink chair beside the vanity counter. Mina did not seemed displeasured too much of his choice, but she did frown just barely enough for the mere twitch of her lips to catch his eye. "I need to know…" She narrowed her eyes in concentration and some frustration. Whatever the question was, Sora assumed it would be important.

"What Valentine gift are you gonna give Serenity?"

Was it an important question? Sora was not sure. "What's Valentines?" He did not mean to startle Mina, which lead him to be bewildered as to why she seemed so horrorstruck. "_What's Valentines_," She exclaimed questionably, almost whiningly, and waved her arms above herself. But she realized her overreacting upon the situation surprisingly soon, and inhaled deeply, her eyes closed under furrowed brows.

She opened her eyes a few long seconds after, and her pale blue orbs instantly stared towards Sora, who seemed to try to sink into the sofa out of intimidation with an even more bewildered look on his face. Mina frowned. She had assumed that since Sora was an earthling, he would have known by now what the word Valentine meant.

He felt guilt grip his emotions, as Mina sighed with a forlorn tone. "Sorry," He placed his hand against the rear of his head, offering a wide but sheepish grin, "I lived in a small island. It was a bit primitive there." He knew by experience that his world was no where near as modern as the worlds he had journeyed through.

Mina had understood, but was just faintly surprised. "An island," She murmured wonderingly. She stared at him, almost exasperated, but still she held a frown and high brows out of wonder. Sora nodded, though, he was suddenly too eager to know what a Valentine was that he had no patience to be asked about his past life.

Mina had probably thought so, too, as she shook her head dimly to throw off her impending curiosity, her beautiful pale hair swaying to the sides which easily caught the light of the miniature gold chandelier above them. "Valentines is about love, and even friendship..." she mumbled, blushing in remembrance of her very first Valentine crush years ago, a smile absentmindedly removing her frown.

Sora could not help but notice this, and he tipped his head more to one side in suppressed curiosity. Was Valentines that much of a big deal to most? Was _love_ such a big deal? He glanced up at the ceiling in thought, and the dim image of Serenity seemed to almost immediately enter his mind's view. He blinked up at the winking golden blades of light the chandelier created.

Luna had jumped on to the bed, and began doing all sorts of peculiar things to the slumbering Artimes, though the pristinely white cat did not twitch a single whisker. Luna lightly tapped a forepaw against Artimes' pink nose, and when that did not wake the happily dazed cat, each tap of her paw drew harder. Mina and Sora ignored the two cats easily. Sooner or later, Artimes will be annoyed.

"What would you get Serenity for valentines?" Mina repeated the prior question eagerly, her fingers clenching with anxiousness. "We have to give something?" The blonde Venusians sighed, almost frustrated, at Sora's response. Usually she enjoyed conversing about her planets' holidays, but she was not as eager this very moment. Sora's smile was somewhat apologetic, brown brows drawing close in wonder of what cause Mina to react so impatient.

"You have to give a present to a person you really like, okay? Can you think of anyone?" Mina's brows drew high with question. Sora stared at the fluffy pink floor for a moment, before mumbling, "Serenity," in the smallest of a whisper. The blonde girl had barely found the reply audible, but grinned in satisfaction. She had been expecting, hoping that he would reply in such a fashion. Step one of her mission: completed…step two: pending…

"Well, there will be a ball on Earth the moment we arrive. We'd best be hooking you up with some tuxes!" Mina clasped her hands against each other with excitement, toning a definite _clap_. Sora scratched his head, once more confused. "Ball? Tux?" Mina nodded, and explained, "Now, this is going to be a Masquerade Ball, so you got to get a

disguise, atleast to hide your face." her smile broadened, and so did her excitement.

And thus began the fashion show, featuring Sora the fourteen-year-old Keyblade Master…

"Eh, that mask doesn't go with your suit, silly!" Mina giggled, leaning forward and plucking the large, amethyst feathered mask off his face. Sora smiled at her helpfulness with gratitude, though he could do it himself easily. Overall, he felt he was being babied by the pretty blonde. However, he was certainly not complaining.

It had been thirty minutes after their conversation of Valentine, and Sora had found himself trying on twelve suits with ridiculous colors in a room full of custom-made clothing. Mina had mentioned that black tuxedos seemed too cliché, so she had offered him a green, an orange, and even a pale pink suit. When he had mentioned of why the pink, she had simply said it was 'style'.

And the cats? Artimes had run off, trying to get away from Luna, who had been 'picking on him'. Who knew where the two young felines meandered off to?

"Purple masks _so _do not go with a yellow tux," Mina advised giddily, more to herself, walking into one of the thirty-yardlong, door-less closet and pulling out all sorts of colored suits. At the mention of yellow, Sora stared at himself at a large mirror—which also happened to be one of the walls of the room—and frowned at his tuxedo. It was sporting an ivory necktie and dark gold couplets fastening the hem of his sleeves, with a white button-up top underneath the banana-yellowness of the tuxedo.

"We can't find anything!" Mina threw her arms up in exasperation, as if blaming whatever she worshiped for their predicament. Sora, seeing Mina did not want to be disturbed as she obsessed over finding a perfect tux, had wandered through the closets as well. He found many colors, even some that he had never seen before, but none seem to be decent enough for a ball. At the corner of his eye, he just barely noticed a gleam of silver at the very end of the long room.

Sora, wanting to feed his curiosity to its fullest, had wandered to the end of the room, and he found that Mina was no longer in his sight, but a visible blonde silhouette in the distance. He had not realized he had wandered off that far up till now. But he ignored it.

Incased in a fine round glass, the men's garb was held up by a torso dummy, the chinos dangling down from the waist. Was it a tuxedo? It seemed more charming than that of a simple suit, almost royal. It was the color of the darkest blue, almost black if one did not look closely, and lined with silver trimmings that looped elegantly around the chest, long-sleeves, and chinos.

Sora placed his fingers on the cold glass that guarded the fine suit, awing over it with gaping lips. It took him two minutes to realize Mina had stood beside him, awing over the suit with equal fascination.

"This tux, it gorgeous!" Mina spoke finally, squealing. She pressed her hands against the glass, her eyes only inches away from it. Sora stared, distortedly disturbed at the girl's behavior. Her pale eyes seemed to hold a never-ending sparkle of glee. Was that drool?

His eyes sought the fine suit once more, but he felt uncertainty draw his brows close. "I don't think I should wear that. Besides, I bet there is no mask that matches this…" He paused, as he watched Mina dig her hand searchingly within one of her dress pockets. Her face suddenly beamed, and Sora assumed that she had found what she was looking for.

She brought out her delicate hand for him to see what she held, and it was a darkly blue, velvety top-half mask. Chips of white and black diamonds swirled across it with elegant design. He still felt uncertain, and frowned at Mina placed the mask into his own hands. "I just couldn't put this pretty mask in all those piles of failed clothes! Good thing I didn't, eh?" She grinned broadly. Sora had dimly smiled back. He had long before learned that the blonde Venusians was very fanatical with fashion.

**-**

Sora was finally privileged to have some time alone, after Mina had somehow found a way to take the suit and force him to wear it. It wasn't bad; in fact, the suit was very comfortable, and to his surprise it had fitted him perfectly. He had taken one look at himself on the mirror wall, and was stunned. He had not believed that he was the handsome young man that stared back at him with the very same expression.

He had never considered it before, but he was actually good-looking. Though, his ignorance about his good looks was mainly because he had never thought of himself as anything but a fourteen-year-old hero, nothing higher than that. Hero, yes, but a handsome hero? It only seemed real in fairy tail, that's what he believed. Fair-featured seemed less complicated at the moment.

Mina had cited about how unruly his hair was, and tried to smooth it back, but it never really could stay in one place that long. It was funny how she seemed so frustrated with her brush, but he liked his hair just the way it was. Besides, he had had it since childhood.

And now, he found himself ambling around the palace again. It was a wonder to why his feet never ached from the constant walking, but he seemed use to it. Running around to dodge fireballs could up a guy's stamina, especially when it concerned a three-headed dog that through said fire.

Sora set his deep blue eyes on the familiar white cat that had run off an hour ago. He noticed for the first time that it had an identical upturned crescent above its brows just like Luna. The young male cat's tail dangled from his rear as he lounged in languid bliss atop a marble column a small cherub tiptoed upon.

"I just can't see why she bugs me so much…" Sora stopped his decided trot towards the cat, his quick ears catching the irritable mumble. "She's so mean…such a meanie…" the cat's tone of voice was audibly young, around the ripe age of eight or so and lightly charming. He parted his lips, suppose to say something…

"Maybe she likes you?" Sora suggested suddenly. Perhaps it was true? Though it seemed kindergartener, maybe Luna enjoyed annoying him because she liked him. The thought was random, the first thing that Sora had thought, and unfortunately it rolled out of his mouth before he could do anything.

Artimes' white ears twitched and, slowly, he looked over his shoulder. Sora felt surprised, staring transfixed into the pale blue eyes of the young cat. Artimes tipped his small head to one side, curious. "I've seen you before. Mina took you into the Pink Room…" He seemed to smile, but Sora had a faint suspicion that it was only out of courtesy.

"Yeah…" Sora replied slowly, "I'm the earthling." He faded smile crawled up his lips. This time, though, Artimes grinned as if he found an earthling quite amusing. "The one who had a fling with Serenity?" The cat laughed as he saw Sora blush. "Nothing happened…" He mumbled. Was he, the Keyblade Master, trying to convince a kitten? Well, he had every right. Exactly as he said it, _Nothing Happened_. Just how far had these rumors had spread?

"That's not what I heard. You are one popular lecher," Artimes muttered, his smirk purposely sly. "Well…" Sora frowned, unsure of a comeback for the remark. Was he loosing an argument with a _kitten_? Now that was just ridiculous. "You're just a little cat, what would you know?" Sora huffed. Arguments like these reminded him achingly of Donald. Now all they needed was a Goofy to stop the argument.

"These ears aren't just for show, earthling boy," Artimes muttered, afterwards yawing. "It would be best if you go look for princess Serenity. Its only fifteen minutes till you go to earth…" Sora's brows drew together, "How did you—?" he paused, hearing Artimes' softly purring snores. A bit of a lazy cat, Sora noticed.

He stared at the hallway he stood around. The hallways had become familiar to him now, despite there numerous curves and maze-like ways.

The day was still bathed in sunlight, icy wind combing back his hair like gentle whisking fingers. He enjoyed a change of scenery. The sun was as fresh and warming as the one he had back home, on an island. This pleasure gave him reason to savor his time to explore a tad more before he would leave to Earth. After tiptoeing past Artimes and his sensitive ears, he took slow steps, staring at walls and enjoying the breeze.

He had forgotten what it was like to be alone, in a way of solitude that was at ease and comforting. It was a short five minutes past before he heard it. A voice, mumbling things, and then another as it company voice, and Sora found it familiar. As he peer over the curve that led him left, he found that there was two young women, one being Serenity.

It was odd how he kept meeting her, though he did not complain in the least. He was actually hoping to see her. it had been long hours without his friend, and even being with the bubbly Venusians did not stop him from thinking, sighing almost wistfully as her image seem to intervene his thoughts. What was wrong with him? His recent actions were so unlike him, he was almost frustrated, even frightened as he contemplated his behavior. What feeling could ever be so confusing, and _enjoying_ at the same time?

Instead of walking up to Serenity and the stranger she spoke with, he found himself peering into the conversation from his place in the curve of the hall, around the corner. He was only curious, and thus he held firm the urge to see the blonde girl or any means of being introduced in front of the stranger.

"I am starting to have doubts, Hotaru…" Serenity's voice was soft-spoken, almost saddened. The other girl, she had deep black hair, harmonizing beautifully with her wide violet eyes. Those eyes held reassurance and concern for Serenity. "Now? Serenity, you should be happy," Hotaru gently offered, and then she looked away from the blonde, "Or at least try. For the sake of peace."

So, Hotaru was her name? The girl seemed younger, about two years younger at least. She had a creamy pale completion, though it seemed to fit her, bringing out all the more beauty. Sora looked on with eagerness, and somewhat impatience. "But, how can I marry a man I don't even know? I never even met the guy!" Serenity threw her arms up in her state of exasperation.

Hotaru smiled gently. "Precisely. You don't know who he really is, so you should stop being so stubborn and don't judge too quickly. Get to know him…" She giggled lightly, her soft tone breaking the tenseness that struck the emotional atmosphere. "Besides, if he's a complete jerk, then at least his hotness could make up for it." Serenity huffed, her arms folded childishly. "How would I even know if he's handsome? And that's not the point!" She blushed.

Sora stopped his curiosity before it went any further, and he leaned his back weightily against the wall of the hallways until he sunk to the floor with a loud thump. He ignored the fact he was being noticeably noisy.

A fiancé? He had nearly forgotten of Serenity betrothed marriage. The thought seem to let his heart sink, and it was confusing him. It was a feeling so cold and relentless, as if someone was stomping on his chest harder and harder. But he merely frowned. He had become accustomed to the foreign emotions, whatever they were.

"Sora?" He stiffened, and turned, almost horrified, as Serenity and her dark-haired friend stared at him with bemused expressions. He smiled, both sheepishly and happy. "Hello," He replied meekly. He stared at her, and for the first time since he had found her, he had noticed her interesting choice of garb.

Sora was concerned at the expression that Serenity pressed, all the while feeling relieved that he had found her. The blonde seemed relieved and exasperated all at once, but he noticed easily of the fine silk dress that clung to her torso. He had never seen her wore such revealing red silk. Being the protective friend that he was, he did not approve of such garments, and frowned profoundly.

Serenity hugged him suddenly, and for a moment he was staggered, but he responded slowly while patting her bare back. Her dress was held by small scarlet straps that tied her naked back and shoulders stylishly, the only things keeping her tight dress from falling to her feet. Red, puffy, shoulder-less shirtsleeves were set under her shoulders, simply there for show.

She drew back. Sora could only be dimly disappointed of such a short embrace, and he ignored the yearning of his feelings that he could not yet comprehend. "I was wondering where you went…" She mumbled, a touch of blissful relief toning her voice. She waved a hand to gesture towards Hotaru, who seemed to be awaiting the opportunity of introduction. "This Hotaru, one of my very best friends, and princess of Saturn…" the short-haired girl bowed her head in greeting, having the courtesy to smile at Sora, who was a stranger to her. Saturnalia's were, in nature, wary of strangers.

"Please to meet you, Sora." She greeted pleasantly, And Sora noted her beautifully soft-spoken tone. "Hi…" He answered slowly, but he kept his stare firmly upon Serenity's face. The things she had said before, was it troubling her? It wasn't wise to have second thoughts about her first travel.

Hotaru was the first to notice the lithe young man that walked up to them with light, silent steps. It was a wonder how the boy could walk without making a sound. "Helios," she greeted dutifully, staring at the boy before anyone else had even noticed him there. "Hello, Hotaru." Helios replied with soft calmness, the same demeanor he greets with everyone else. "We are ready to leave. Please, follow me Serenity." He held out his elbow to her, and serenity, almost halfheartedly, encircled her arm with his. She glanced back at Sora, who promptly set a reassuring smile.

"Well?" He stopped staring at Serenity, who was nearly out of view, and turned to see Hotaru. "Well what?" he asked, innocently ignorant. Hotaru smiled. "It is impolite to let a lady walk alone towards her destination, is it not?" Her smile broadened as she noticed the dim blood rush within his cheeks. "Oh," he mumbled. He offered her his elbow, and she promptly took with both her slender arms. Her grip was firm, almost tight, and she kept him in a steady pace. Sora could see Serenity and the Helios boy far before them.

Was this it? He was going to Earth? Not exactly his Earth, but he was delighted to have some sort of remembrance for his old home. He was certain that there would be beaches there, and coconut palms, too. The very thought made him eager, and his grip absentmindedly tightened against Hotaru's arms. And, though she noticed the slight pressure, she did not complain.

**-**

**-**

Well, that's enough for today! I got to leave it here, sorry. But I do hope ya'll enjoy this chapter! It's finally spring break for me! Oh, the freedom! I will savor it solely on this fic—and other things. ;D I hope I finish this story soon, because its so nerve racking… well, listening to music will help me out, and maybe I'll do a song-fic. Music could do that to me!

**SachiNyoko**: Bamboozled! Hehe, I had nearly forgotten about that word. I always wondered if it had any relations to the word bamboo, but… (Sweatdrops) never mind. I never really expected the last chapter to be eventful, but I guess I thought wrong, ne? Controversy and jealousy is nearly everyone's favorite in fics! I love it too. Ooh, sorry if I am teasing you! Hehe.

**Clueless97**: hmm, Luna's like Minako, huh? Yeah, interesting similarities and it is very amusing to see Luna out-of-character. I hardly see OOC Artimes' or Luna's in some fics, but I guess their not really important in some fics. Well, Luna is a _kitten_, as in young cat that is a babyish. Oh, and… (Stares desperately) do you know when the KH2 will come out? I _really_ want to buy the game!


	9. Chapter 9: the Earth and its dashing Pri...

_If you really want to see my_ **Declaimer**_, then look at all my other chapters before this one…_

Chapter 9: the Earth and its dashing Prince

It was anonymity on how they had ended up on earth. Teleportation was a mysterious sort of magic. They had held hands in a circle counterclockwise, with Hotaru, Serenity, Sora, and Helios all in arms length. Luna was in the center of this all, surprisingly in a more polite behavior than they had usually seen her in.

It was simple as that, and the only burden Sora had to put up with was closing his eyes, and concentrating. They did all the rest. He had chanced a small glimpse to see what exactly they were doing. Sora had watched with one eye squinting open as the people around him seem to glow their respective aura, with he having his familiar tingling cherry-red aura mixed with theirs.

Now he was on earth, but it was not the same as his island paradise. He liked it, but felt bashful around strangers who treated him with such courtesy, knowing that he could not give them anything else in return but his own smiles of gratitude. Though Serenity and Hotaru seemed use to being treated in that sort of way, and the mere smile of the two princesses was enough for the servants to be even more eager among helpfulness…

This was it. This was the moment she would meet her husband-to-be. And to be truthful, she had never lay eyes on the prince before. The only reason she had ever hated him at all was because of all the rumors. Reye and Amara had been very keen on putting as much detail as possible about the Earth prince once he was put into their choice of subject among conversations. The Martian princess was not on Earth though. She had refused to go for the fact that she was to be hunting in the Dark Garden back on the moon.

Serenity shifted her weight between her petite feet; her half-lidded gaze set petulantly on the red black pair of sandals that clamed it. She wore the very same red silken dress she had arrived with and, though she was gawked by many, she had quite the good time in her first few hours on Earth. It was not her choice of dress, but it was somewhat necessary, from what her mother had put it. Serenity sighed. Did her mother wish for her to please the prince that much? It seemed sadly so.

"Princess…" She nearly jumped at the sudden knowledge of company, blushing as she was pulled from her reverie. It was a boy with silver hair very much like Riku's, but shorter in length and more wavy. His eyes were a frosty blue, though holding so much maturity and composure that Serenity was simply fascinated. She smiled warmly at her trusted friend, Helios.

Helios gently drew his hand out, offering her a chance to dance. He let the slightest slip of a smile grace his usually pressed lips. "Helios," She giggled gently, with a look of friendly affection. "Care to dance?" He grinned dimly, eyes glinting against the light of the moon that spilled through the large windowpanes. He was always there to dance with her, often when she tried to ignore the suitors that stalked her or if she were simply lonely.

Selenity trusted her old silver-haired friend with her children, therefore Helios was like a family to Serenity every since she was a child. He would often care for her when her mother could not.

Serenity knew he was a trusted friend, and that her mother trusted him with her. That was why she was sure to trust the silver-haired guardian to watch over her children in the far future if anything was to keep her too busy, If that were ever to be so, of course.

Smiling broadly, she took his hand, noting how it fitted perfectly against his equally slender palm. "How is your mother?" He murmured conversationally, as he gracefully led her to the dance floor. "She's tiring, as always," She muttered quietly, almost irritated.

A dim smile graced his lips, though not intentionally. "Someday, you will be just like her, and I will take the same role as to care for your children…" He twirled her around briskly, gently smiling as he noticed her annoyance. "That's not true," She retorted rather loudly, once back into his arms and quickly being led yet again. Helios merely shook his head, silver stresses swaying sinuously with the motion. "I wouldn't be surprise if your child would be a little spore just like you…" He teased gently. Serenity sighed with mocking melodramatic-ness. "You're so unkind."

Helios was an excellent dancer, sweeping her through the floor with fluidly smooth steps that blended wonderfully with the music. She was a fine dancer herself, graceful in posture and best in brisk movements. They had different styles of dancing, but for now Helios was leading them to a smooth finish as the song slowly began to die down.

As the gentle melody of a violin and piano finally echoed to a close, they were both nearly startled to fine every hand in the ballroom clapping in awe and mild admiration. Serenity drew away from the older boy quickly, having a flush that matched rather nicely with her dress. Helios smiled his usual dim slip of a smile, staring at the applauding crowd with amusement.

"Excuse me…" Helios turned around slightly, momentarily pausing in his watching Serenity blush out of shyness and her being too amid her thoughts to notice his stare. It seemed he had been enjoying it before he was interrupted. He lifted his brows in question, staring down at a young brown-haired boy that seemed rather nervous and flushed. He grinned inwardly, knowing quite well what the boy wanted. "May I cut in?" The boy asked what Helios was expecting. With a slightly broader smile, he nodded once, and simply walked away.

Sora sighed. He was glad that the silver-haired young man was gone now and out of his predicament. He glanced up at Serenity, brows furrowing in reluctance and uncertainty. The girl was still embarrassed at being the main attraction for all the spectators to see freely. Smiling, he shyly walked up to her. Closing his fingers around her bare shoulder, he was almost surprised to feel her flinch with his touch. She turned around quickly.

Serenity felt herself gasp quietly, her red tinted lips slightly parting in a mere slip of a gape. "Sora," She squealed, grinning widely, "You look gorgeous…" She paused, blinking, "But your hair!" He blushed, smiling sheepishly while smoothing back his unruly brown hair with one white gloved hand. She giggled, "Only kidding, Sora."

After sighing in relief, he laughed along with her. "A dance?" He asked, almost hopeful, but most definitely amused. She nodded curtly in mock regality, and drew out her hand for him to take. Sora was eager to take the small hand into his own palm, grinning broadly as he briskly brought her close and let his free arm snake around her prettily narrowed waist. She was startled at how fast paced he moved. She smiled slyly, "I thought you didn't know how to dance?" He grinned casually, "Yes, but a little lesson on Mamba with Mina was really helpful…and a little scary." They both laughed.

Sora seemed to have an exceptional dance skill, and he was definitely brisk with his toned legs. The music was slightly more quick than the slow melody from before, but beautiful all the same. He twirled her around quickly, watching as the skirt of her dress lifted slightly by the increase of wind. She was, in fact, looking wonderful tonight.

He pulled her back into his arms, there hips swaying in tune with the lightly swift melody that they danced with. Eight hours of dancing lessons with Mina paid off considerably. He would have to make a curt mental note to thank the bubbly blonde Venusians.

He spun her around mainly, making her dizzy with giggle fits. This seemed to encourage him vastly. It was almost a shame that the music had ended so—in there opinion—quickly. There was another vast torrent of frenzied applause, but they simply ran into the crowd and were instantly lost in the sea of people, laughing cheerfully.

She wanted to rest for awhile. The fast paced dance was almost arduous, but it was so much fun that both she and Sora simply could not stop laughing. "You were amazing," She whispered admiringly. Sora nodded slowly, his laughs dieing down till he could only smile. "I had help, remember?" Again, they both chuckled.

"I love being with you, Sora. You're always there to make me smile." She beamed, leaning deeper against her seat, enjoying the velvet backrest that towered over her head. Sora smiled fondly at Serenity, who closed her eyes to savor her comfort. "Always," He mumbled, as if to promise. Serenity was unaware of this promise though, smiling largely in the bliss of her comfort.

Sora was interrupted from his staring at her, however, by a hasty shake of a hand against his right shoulder. He turned his head almost immediately, soon finding himself staring into dark emerald eyes that shined with both eagerness and shyness. "Lita," He greeted, his cheeks colored a light pink hue. Lita sported a dark green dress, with thin white straps holding it up and mint green velvet went tightly around her chest proudly, the rest being a skirt that flurried down like a silken waterfall of darker green. It went really great with her eyes.

"Hi," She greeted in return, almost shyly, while having the faintest of a blush color her cheeks. "Would you…like to dance?" She smiled sheepishly, "I know the boy is supposed to ask but, well, would you?" The hope was so evident in her emerald eyes; he wanted to broaden his smile.

"Of course," He agreed enthusiastically. He turned to Serenity for a sort of asking approval, but she had already been watching the two. The blonde Lunarian giggled lightly, "Yeah, you can take him." folding her arms, she acted up a mock pout. Lita could scarcely hold back her glee, yanking the brown-haired boy out of his seat and into the crowd of dancing couples as he barely had time to let out a muffled cry. Serenity grinned cheerfully as she watched them vanish into the dance floor.

Only a ten minutes past, and she was already bored stiff. The delicious food in front of her did little to help entice the night, and she just sat there for another ten minutes. Suitor after suitor would come and ask for her and in dance, but she ignored them all. She never felt comfortable around strangers, and seeing as they were from Earth she was slightly more wary. They were passionate, this is true, but it often clouded their thoughts with rather inappropriate things.

Frowning as she made her decision, she roused up from her comfortable seat almost regretfully. Serenity eased her way through some groups of conversational men and women, holding her breath to keep the hot perfumes and colognes to drive her senses. She was sensitive to such things, and it often left her sneezing constantly. With vast relief, she reached one of the balconies.

Nearly running forward from her eagerness, she lightly opened the glass doors, sliding into the narrow opening and out of the teeming ballroom. Smoothing down the faint wrinkles of her thin dress, she stared at her frame to see if there were anything disheveled. Sighing in relief of the sudden solitude, she finally glanced up to see the Earth's wonderful sights.

Stumbling forward in her awe, she leaned against the balustrade, eager to get as much close of a view as she could. It was night, of course, as all Masquerade balls were dated at dark. The stars seemed dimmer compared to the winking lights within the ballroom, but it still held on to its pride of beauty and wonder desperately. Below her, an unfamiliar sight sent her tipping her head to one side out of curiosity.

The moon reflected against steadily crashing waves of shadowy saltwater, its gravitational pull sending the ocean into a frenzy of beautiful effects pushing against the shore of glimmering gold sand. It was a beach. She had only heard about such things in story books, but even its detailed descriptions did not match the wonderful sigh in front of her. Everything seemed to have its own shine granted by the moon and stars.

Serenity sighed, feeling depressed that she was not able to be down there where the stunning sea resided. Instead, she stared out into the distance of the waters, having some amusement at seeing schools of glimmering flying fish leap into the air before slipping back into their vast home.

Sighing in half contempt, she drew away from the balustrade and leaned her back against it. For a moment she tried to ignore the vague silhouette that was a glimpse at the corner of her eye, but it decided to let itself be known. "Hey…" she tilted her head sideways, and blinked at the boy who spoke. "You ever get these views?"

Serenity realized with a blush that the boy was actually more of a young man. "What?" She drew her brows close with her confusion and some curiosity. The young man shook his head in what looked to be mild amusement. "The view here. Do you ever see them where you live?" He was talking about the ocean view, she realized, blushing a little deeper. "No," She answered disappointedly, shrugging sheepishly. The young man laughed, and Serenity felt heat prick at her ears till it was flushed, too.

"Why are you out here?" Serenity asked, changing the conversation entirely. The boy drew his dark brows furrowed, but recovered with a rather sly smile. "I should be asking you the same thing," He leered, triumphantly watching as the blonde yet again blushed. "I was bored…" was her mumbled answer.

He was lanky yet toned, with pitch black hair that shimmered glimpses of white against the moonlight. He wore the traditional tuxedo, sporting a sharp white mask, a cape, and an amusing magicians' hat, while a rose corsage was lightly pinned against the right of his tuxedo's chest. It was a little funny but, oddly enough, the style suited him well.

He shrugged, keeping his smile proudly. "I didn't really want to come here at all…" Serenity tilted her head to one side, interested. The dark-haired young man sighed, "I had to meet someone there…a girl, but I don't really want to. I might not like what I see…" He glanced at her, his darkly blue eyes lingering around her figure. He looked away when she fidgeted uneasily, shaking his head. "What's your name, anyway?" He lifted a brow, noting her discomfort.

"Serenity," She sighed, her shoulders slumping. He only shrugged, "I'm Endymion," He grinned, "But you could call me Endy." Endymion grinned broader at the sight of her flush, and hearing her unintentional giggle. "Okay, _Endy_," She giggled, having a ting of mock affection. He only offered a lopsided grin, having the suspicious similarity to a smirk.

Sighing, Endymion gestured to the glass exits of the balcony. "Come, I'll gladly show you some people I know." He offered her his elbow, which she halfheartedly grasped with both arms. "Friends?" She questioned. It seemed unlike her to simply follow a complete stranger, but the young man appeared vaguely familiar. Slightly, she wondered why a certain Prince of Earth had not showed up at all for the past hours.

He led her to a group of young men, and one girl. "Jedite, Malachite," He greeted, and then said again, "Zoicite, Nephrite…" His gaze slowly landed on the one girl, redheaded and one of the most beautiful girls Serenity had ever seen. "Beryl," Endymion finished his greetings with a charming grin. The redheaded girl seemed no older that Serenity, and was presently blushing feverously.

"Endymion," the blonde young man, Jadeite, leered as he greeted the dark-haired youth. His icy sapphire gaze quickly shifted to Serenity, and his leer broadened. "Well, hello there, beautiful." Serenity stared at her sandals, a futile attempt to hide her flushing. Jedite lifted his gold brows, apparently amused at her evident shyness. "Now, now, don't be shy. A friend of Endymion is a friend of _mine_."

He was certainly a handsome one, but so were the other young men that seem to shamelessly stare at her. She found the weight of their stares quite discomforting. "Endymion, why don't you tell us what's this pretty little things name, eh?" Jadeite stole a glimpse at the flustered blonde, though his stare was a little longer than he had intended. Endymion rolled his eyes in mock annoyance. "Serenity," He said.

Another young man, Malachite, simply shook his head at the blue-eyed blonde's behavior, his long silver-blue hair swaying gently with the motion. He smiled at Serenity, having more decency than his other blonde counterpart. The other blonde, Zoicite, seemed to inspect her, though. His blue eyes shifted to her legs, then to her torso, and finally to her face.

He had a feminine appearance, but his sea-blue eyes bore much more than that of a girl, and his shoulder-length hair was tied into a casual ponytail. Serenity became even more discomforted, shifting her weight from one leg to the other. The action did not go unnoticed by Zoicite, and he remarked finally, "Cute." He smirked, nodding as if in approval of something, while confusing Serenity and leaving her agitated.

"If you're all finished gawking, maybe we could actually have a conversation," Nephrite grated. "_Not_ concerning Jadeite's idiotic playboy antics." He, too, stared at Serenity, but almost seemed to look disgusted. She frowned visibly at him, but the chocolate-haired young man merely snickered and briskly stared elsewhere.

Endymion smiled warmly down at her, "Ignore his rudeness. He's actually really great once you get to know him." Serenity smiled, a little bit of comfort rising in her.

The redheaded girl, Beryl, smiled warmly at her, "Hello." Serenity blushed. "Hi," She mumbled in greeting. Beryl gently laughed, the beautiful tone reaching the blondes flustered ears. "Don't just mumble. Now, I am going to ask you something, and you reply with the most enthusiasm you could muster, okay?" her grin widened excitedly.

"Great, her and her little _enthusiasm_ thing again," Jadeite sighed dramatically, "You are not a physiatrist, Beryl darling." Endymion frowned, "don't speak to her that way. Besides, your one to talk."

Malachite snorted, his arms folded against his chest calmly, "We put up with you, the least you can do is put up with her." He grinned amusedly, as Jadeite offered a mock pout. "As much as I hate to admit, I believe that Beryl's pretending is a bit less tolerable," Nephrite muttered. "You're just saying that because she's a girl. Stop being chauvinistic, you'll never get a woman with that attitude," Zoicite stated casually.

"I can find a woman just fine!"

"Not."

"Yes, I could!"

Aggravatingly ignoring the young men, Beryl asked, "Where do you come from?" Serenity avoided Beryl's blood-red eyes with nervousness. "The moon..." She murmured quietly. She was a bit startled to hear nothing but silence from the group, and she looked up to see them gawking at her with wide eyes, before she quickly stared down again.

"The _moon_?" Jadeite gaped, splitting the silence to nothingness, "Well, the rumors are true, lunarians are hot." He smirked. "Idiot…" Nephrite grated in a mumble. Zoicite narrowed his icy eyes, "Well, Prince Endymion, it seems you have found your Princess-to-be." Malachite chuckled as Endymion gawked at the blonde Lunarian. He had never seen his prince appear so flustered and wide-eyed. "It appears so," He whispered, smiling at Serenity, who was too shocked about the whole ordeal to notice.

"You're the prince?" she gasped. Endymion tried to compose himself, coming out of his shocked reverie. "And you…are the princess?" He would not say he was disappointed, that was for sure. And Serenity, well, it seemed the rumors weren't true…

**- **

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Now, you didn't think that Serenity wouldn't fall for the dashing Endymion, did you? Muahahahaha! Another unfortunate soul is added to the love-triangle! The plot is being revealed! Well, unless it already did in the last chapters but…yeah… To answer confused questions, I will note that Endymion is not going to actually be with her, maybe. (Grins) But you have to read on to find out! Ummm, hehe, sorry if this took so agonizingly _long_. If you want to hate me, than by all means do so. I don't mind at all! (Laughs crazily) Ahem, yeah, moving on. As you can see, I'm hyper, and I love it! If you have questions, then you shall ask then in a review. You will review, I _command_ you! And I'm joking, too!

Please excuse my mistakes in this chapter, if any.

Press the little purple button; I know you want to…please? –S. Nestor says bah-bye! ;D


	10. Chapter 10: Your Heartless

Argh! I couldn't have a chance with the computer for a whole week! I was so pissed that I glared at everyone that even crossed hallways with me! That didn't do any good though, and I do feel guilty at glaring at my parents when they smiled at me. It was a pity that they seemed to falter there happy smiles when I frowned and glared at them. And here I wonder why I am not punished…people are so gutless these days. Only kidding! I swear!

Sorry if this thing took too long. My family says I gotta smile more, and be nicer (lifts brow)! So, I think I'll make this chapter longer than intended (sweatdrops). if some of this makes no sense then you could blame that on my hyper-ness and lack of sleep. Wheehehehee! Notice that the chapter title says "_Your_ Heartless" instead of "_You're_". I did that for a reason, if you must know. Please mind my mistakes if any.

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Chapter 10: Your Heartless

Serenity sighed, frustrated and weary, resting her temple against the towering windowpane as she stared at the beautiful environment that she was currently locked from. A mere glass of a window seemed like the only thing keeping her from having fun at the moment. The beach was simply beautiful; it depressed her to know she was locked up in a spacious room, like being a bird locked within a cage, given the gift of flight and yet never able to use it and prohibited from its rightful freedom.

But how could she go out there? As caged in as she felt, it seemed safer away from embarrassment when she wasn't able to face the prince of earth, or anyone else. He was such a nice young man, and had offered her a chance to be alone. It was obvious he was interested in her, but it irked her just a bit. This was a man she barely knew, yet why did she feel so shy and nervous around him? It was so frustrating to know her composure faltered by the mere slip of a handsome boy. But maybe that was because he a prince, moreover, a prince in shining knight's armor?

Serenity thought for a moment, envisioning fanciful ideas randomly popping into her mind, and yet frowning just a little. _A knight-in-shining-armor debonair embracing a woman and taking her away onto his pearly white stallion, the stallions' nostril's flaring as it galloped into the sunset, and the two living happily ever after… Boy would that make any woman wistful for more_. It was simply a whimsical thought, she assured it, a rather childish one at that. She blushed, embarrassed with herself.

She would meet him soon. Prince Endymion, with a little help from the ever-flirtiest Jadeite, had invited her to his kingdom's garden, to which she really could not refuse. How could she? Even if she didn't want to, it would have been ill-mannered to refuse the prince of earth, much less her own fiancé. It felt strange to view him as her husband-to-be; however, it was not unpleasant either.

But, for some reason that she could not quite put her fingers on, it felt like she was betraying somebody for having a silly crush on the prince, even if she was to wed him anyway. Make that, _two_ somebody's. Where had they run off to, anyhow? She was brooding in her lonely bout, confused and suspicious to where Sora had gone off too, and even more on the matter on Riku.

She snickered. Sora was probably too busy being stalked by earthling young women. It wasn't hard to tell that Sora had already manage to unintentionally grant himself a _fanclub_, seeing that he had been urged to dance with over several women the night before back at the ballroom. She hated that they flocked around them like lovesick five-year-olds. Have they no dignity? Honestly, it was disgusting how they actually tried to grope him! She felt a pink hue of frustration rise on her cheeks. Of course, she was not jealous. But, maybe…protectiveness? Yes, it seemed fitting enough. She just didn't want to see her good friend Sora under the impression of boy-crazy girls, that's all.

She sighed again, closing her eyes, relishing the feel of the soothingly cold glass against her forehead. Who was she trying to fool? She, or the others who seemed to misjudged their friendship? Stubbornness did not permit her to admit that she had sunk so low as to have a childish possessiveness over her own friend, who happened to be a boy. Boyfriend? "Arrgh, enough!" she willed herself not to rub her suddenly aching head. Stress did not suit her at all. If she were to continue her current boredom any further, she might even consider banging her head against the window, simply to simmer down her frustration. Why was she feeling these things?

What was she to do now? Stay in her room, shy and insecure, till a maid would come and tell her to get dressed for her tour of the garden with Prince Endymion? Quirking her brows upright, she glanced down to inspect the clothe she wore, and blinked her blue eyes. A blush had risen before it was permitted to, and she frowned. The skirt of her gown was offensively short, a thin mesh material revealing only her abdomen, while darker silk covered as her top and skirt that linked with the mesh center. Two thin, barely visible lattice straps held the dark night clothe up upon each of her two shoulders, fortunately. A rather scanty black nightgown, wasn't it?

She would remind herself not to let Zoicite pick out the clothes for her any more than he already had. Seeing as she was not formal with the way earthlings dressed, she had needed help to blend in more, and the handsomely blonde general just happened to cite on what earthling women had supposedly wore on occasions. He had even asked her to twirl around in a revealing yet flaring dress once when she had asked if it was okay, though it seemed ridiculous to her. The nerve of him asking her things like that irked her.

She was beginning to think that some earthling males, if not all, were very lecherous and more responsive to their hormones. It was almost scary. The mere thought of men sizing her up like a starved animal scrutinizing a layer of meat made her both infuriated and frightened. Sora wasn't like that, and Riku simply teased, nothing like what some men that had managed to steal a glimpse of her usually did. Endymion wasn't like that either, she was sure of it.

"I really shouldn't think too much, it's not good for my health…" Serenity mumbled, trying to be amused. She roused herself off the comforting divan that was set beside her window, stretching her arms tautly and frowning as she heard her joints snapped back into place once more. Her hair was down, and she wondered why she never really noticed how her stray strands often got in the way of her view until now. It was so dry on Earth. The sun, though as beautifully brilliant as it was, had dried off nearly all the humidity in the air. Being in the moon her whole life, her hair never dried up like straw, but on Earth it was otherwise. She wasn't use to it.

She lingered around the room, wandering from each curious object and furniture. She paused in a moment were she was smelling the roses on a delicate antique counter, the corner of her eye finding her reflection at the vanity mirror that was set atop a desk drawer. Never had her hair been too wavy and unkempt. She stumbled towards the vanity mirror, and sought out a brush or comb that would help tidy her blonde tangles.

Serenity suddenly dropped the brush she had just found, hearing the gentle rapping against wood as someone from the other side of the door knocked. Panicking, she hastily smoothed back her hair as best she could and evened down her slightly wrinkled nightgown, if you could call it that. Grabbing a morning robe, she shrugged it on, walking towards the door before the person behind it was to knock any further. "Who is it?" She pressed her ear to the door. "Room service," a soft voice replied, slightly tinged with a strange accent.

Serenity stood on her toes to see through the peeping hole on the door. A girl in a black gown and white apron was seen through the fish-eye lens, shifting and squirming and nibbling at her lower lip in anxiety. Serenity slowly lugged the door wide open, her eyes wide with childlike curiosity. "Hello," She chirped happily. The girl only gaped, and it took a moment for Serenity to realize that she still wore her offensively revealing nightgown; her satin robe untied and limping against her slumped shoulders. Chuckling nervously, she quickly folded her robe around her torso.

Recovering almost instantly, Serenity smiled with enthusiastic cheeriness, "Need anything?" The girl blushed furiously. "Oh, n-no! I wanted to know if _you_ needed anything…do you?" She stumbled over her words, shyly averting the Lunarians wide-eyed gaze of inquisitiveness. "No, not really, but I am bored." Serenity concentrated with a thoughtful look, and then, as if a light-bulb had popped up right above her blonde head, she beamed with excitement. "What's your name?"

The girl was lithe and vulnerable-looking, the same height as Serenity, but she shrugged her shoulders and bowed her head so much it seemed like she was shorter. Her hair barely dropped past her nape in bushy waves of hazel-red stresses, a faded blue bow keeping her slightly unkempt hair from falling over her bright jade eyes. The girl bowed dutifully, "Molly Gem." She replied squeakily, her nose pinking with embarrassment. The surname fitted her; her eyes were as bright as emerald gems under the moonlight.

"Do you know when Endy will start the tour around his kingdom?" The girl blinked. "_Endy_?" She repeated the name, perplexed. Serenity smiled, tapping her hand against her head in realization. "Oh, I mean Prince _Endymion_." The girl flushed again. "Well, he will send another servant for that job…I'm here to serve you, a personally maid, sort of…" her green eyes seemed determined to stare at the floor. "Oh, okay! So you could help me pick out a good dress?" Serenity clasped her hands together with anticipation and enthusiasm.

Molly looked uneasy instantly, "Oh, m-me? Are you sure? Shouldn't you ask the tailors of the palace to help you?" She stared at Serenity with a mix of curiosity and shyness. "Nonsense! I don't need bossy tailors to tell me what to wear." Serenity folded her arms as she mocked a pout. "You're much nicer, I can tell," She winked, "In more ways than one."

"_But_…" Molly insisted, her brows drawn furled. Serenity rolled her eyes, smiling in amusement. "Pretty please, with sugar on top?" Molly stared at the girl, slightly startled. "Yes, of course," she said finally, sounding obedient. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made you beg…" She closed her eyes tightly, apologetic and timid. "Beg? I was just asking…" Serenity blinked.

"You earthlings are strange. I see it now, your joking. That was a real good one," She said between giggles. Molly blinked once, twice, three times. "Umm…" Molly brought up a hand, about to remark, but withdrew when she found the Lunarian was shaking her head. "Hurry up. We could get clothes for you, too!" Molly's eyes widened. "What! No, err…_please_, I don't need new clothes." Serenity wrinkled her nose at the obvious white lie.

The redhead was beautiful, but her fair features clashed unfairly with the dirty maid-outfit she wore. Such a beautiful and kindhearted girl disserved far better than what she was currently ranked, and Serenity was almost angry at the unjust concerning it. She would have to talk about this with Prince Endymion later on, but for now she was going to keep her thoughts on the redheads "fashion".

It was only a few minutes later that they were thrashing through the room's closets, giggling like longtime friends. "Okay. You look so pretty in emerald green, Mol!" Molly blushed, shifting her weight nervously. She wore a green sundress with a flaring skirt. "Not as pretty as you," She said happily, almost wistfully. Serenity blushed modestly. Her own sundress was almost identical, except it was creamy white in color, though there was no reason to say she looked better.

"Ready to try out the ball gowns?" Serenity suggested with a sly grin. Molly smiled, amused. Before she could say anything, however, a sharp pang rapped against the windowpane of the room. She panicked, leaping into the luxury bed and hiding under the covers. Serenity shook her head at the action, and walked over to the window to see who exactly was trying to get her attention.

She glanced out, hauling the window open and enthusiastically thrusting her head out to look down. Half of her torso nearly fell over the window when she saw who was below her window. "Wow, slow down there, Beautiful." The person laughed. Serenity had every right to be surprised. He was flying in midair! And he had no wings!

"Riku!" She gasped, nervously glancing back at molly, and sighed in relief when she still hid herself in the blankets,  
"What are you doing here, and _how_? Wait, how are you even _flying_?" the silver-haired youth only chuckled, his eyes roaming around her appearance. "Cute dress…" Serenity blushed. "That's not the answer to my question!" She whined, pouting. He, yet again, gave that charmingly gentle laugh. This irked the lunar girl.

Riku stared at her fondly, admiring her childish reaction with a dim smile. He offered an outstretched hand, and Serenity stared at it, blinking. "I got here the same way you did, I suppose. And as for the flying thing…" His dim smile broke out into a wide grin, "come with me and find out." He opened his palm wide, waiting for her hand to take his. Serenity glanced back, and found that Molly was peaking through the blankets.

"Mol, I'll be gone for awhile, okay. Tell Endy not to worry." The redhead nodded numbly under the covers, too shocked to trust her voice. Smiling in satisfaction, Serenity took his hand, a little reluctantly. Her feet were now on the widow's bottom frame, being steadied by holding onto Riku's right arm. "Jump on me," He instructed gently. Serenity stared at him, incredulous, "Are you _nuts_?" He laughed again, sapphire eyes shining mistily. "I'll teach you to fly, if you jump on me."

With a little more prompting and reassuring from Riku, she took one step forward into the air, and without another step she leaped into his arms, hugging his waist for dear life. "Not so tight, Beautiful," He muttered, smirking, "unless, your more comfortable that way." His toned arms were firmed her against him, effortlessly encircled around her waist and carrying her with ease.

"Think of happy thoughts…" He breathed, his lips inches away from her ear. He smiled dimly as he felt her flush against him. "Faith and trust…" She looked up at him, half glaring and half hopeful. He grinned. "It'll be fun once you understand it, Sweetness." Serenity thought for a moment, thinking of all the possible happy things that could happen to her. "Being with my friends, going to the beach, and making my very fist sandcastle…" She smiled widely at the thought. Riku shifted her into one arm, the other throwing a patch of glimmering yellow dust on the blonde girl. She sneezed, and shook her head furiously.

"Hey, what'd you do that for," She whined, shifting against him so she could glare at him properly. A small lot of dust was till at the bridge of her nose, and she wrinkled it away, sneezing again. "All you need is faith and trust, Beautiful…" He leered, "And some _pixie dust_." Serenity tipped her head to one side, skeptical and confused. Suddenly, Riku let her go, and she went falling like an anvil would in water. "Happy thoughts, Beautiful, remember to think happy thoughts!" He waved a hand down at her falling form.

Having nothing else to do, falling fast into certain oblivion, and having a sudden urge to wring the silver-haired youth's neck, she actually took his advice. "Parties, dissert, fencing…" Her eyes gleamed, "Sora…" She stopped abruptly, only inches away from the cement ground. Her hair hung in mid-air, and she cried out when her skirt started rising higher than needed. She hastily smoothed it down.

"Hey, you made it!" Riku came into view, smirking handsomely. "You jerk," Serenity wailed, "I was so scared!" She rapped her fist at his chest, angry and appalled that he would try such a stunt. He only shrugged, "I would've caught you if you couldn't fly. I just thought it would be easy for you since you always seem be happy." He leered at her glare, brining his hand up and smoothing away the stray hair that fell above Serenity's eyes. If the young man thought it was funny, then she could only assume that had a sadistic sort of humor.

"And what were your happy thoughts, then?" Riku wasn't expecting that question, but it wasn't uncomfortable to answer either. He smiled fondly at the flushed young girl, not at all discomfited by her dagger of glares. "I was thinking of you, Beautiful…" Serenity paused for a moment, staring at him with wide eyes. Serenity, Riku Realized with satisfaction, was not expecting an answer like that either. She shuffled her feet, staring with awe as she floated in the air. "Wow. I've never flown without my wings before…"

Riku lifted one silver brow, "Wings?" Serenity nodded absently, "yes. There white, and look a lot like dove wings." He blinked, expression blank, "Well, yeah…anyway, I want to show you something." His grin broke the slightly confused look he had, and took off straight up into the sky with a sudden burst of wind.

Serenity stared at her shoeless feet, suspended in the air like the rest of her. For a small moment she hesitated on whether to follow the silver-haired boy, but she looked up at him, and he waited with patience and an unassuming appearance high above her. She kicked her legs up as if to swim, not exactly sure how to fly properly without any sort of visible steering.

They had floated through the air, the cold but pleasant breeze smoothing their faces and keeping them wide awake. Riku did not enjoy flying aimlessly above the lands, but Serenity had a way on persuading people when she wanted something. Or maybe it was just him that fell for her adorable pouts with the gleaming puppy-dog eyes? He was slightly irked at the thought. Maybe Sora was vulnerable, too? He certainly did not want to be the only one.

He had finally convinced her to stop for awhile. "I've got something to show you, remember?" He was a bit irritated after the long wait, in spite of his usual cool patience. "Close your eyes," Riku gently ordered, and was satisfied when she complied, shutting her blue eyes tight. To make sure that she wouldn't peak, which he knew she eventually would, he placed his gloved hands around her eyes, letting her small back rest against him. "Not fair," She muttered darkly, tensing. But he smirked, only getting encouraged at every protest she uttered.

It was quite a long time before she could see the light again, and once his hands drew away she began blinking rapidly, not use to the bright light. But as her vision cleared, she could see the beautiful sun slowly falling into the large body of water that was the sea, mesmerizing yellow and orange colors clashing against its rippling surface by the setting sun. Did she actually spend time with Riku for that long? She honestly hoped that the others were not _too_ worried.

"Come on, let's go down. There's a great beach, and it's completely spotless, no seaweed at all." He pointed an arm down towards the distant view of a beach. Serenity beamed, "Really?" suddenly, she remembered something, and frowned. "What? You don't like it?" Riku asked, disbelieving. She shook her head. "No…" She didn't have the chance to explain why, having Riku interrupt when he grabbed her and dived down. "Good. Then your okay with it then?" sometimes Serenity had the strange suspicion that he was very demanding when he wanted her with him, almost possessive. But why?

"Riku," She frowned, "Could you let go of me now, your too tight." Once they had landed, Riku still held on to her, as if he did not want her to move from her position in his arms, but he was silent until she spoke up. He let go of her almost immediately, and she nearly stumbled back. He blinked a few times, confused out of something, "I'm sorry, I was just thinking… did I hurt you?" He looked concerned, or something akin to that at least. "Just a little…"

As her mind purposely wandered, she realized that they were on a small wooden dock that nearly touched the waves of the ocean. "Wow!" She breathed, gaping in her smile. "It's beautiful!" Riku stared, smiling dimly, "yeah…beautiful." His eyes, however, were fixed not on the ocean, but on Serenity's beaming face. Feeling the weight of his stare, she stared back, blushing. "Could you _stop_ doing that?"

Riku mocked a convincing pout, "Stop _what_?" Serenity placed her hands on either side of her delicate waist. "You know certainly well what I mean! Stop staring at me like that, you're giving me the heebie-jeebies." He smiled broadly, a vague look in his sapphire eyes. "Good," the silver-haired youth murmured audibly. She glared at him, but couldn't help but smile, "I don't know what it is about you…" She shook her head, sighing wearily. "And I don't know what it is about you, either." She heard him reply, but he seemed to murmur as if to himself.

"So, you ready for a nice swim?" Riku asked suddenly. Serenity stared, wide-eyed. "What—no!" She said curtly, blushing. He rolled his pale eyes, smirking, "What? It's not like we're going skinny-dipping…" He smirked wider at her continuously reddening face, "Or maybe you'd rather have it that way, Beautiful?" Serenity cried out in alarm. "You really should watch your tongue!" She scolded, wagging her finger, still red-faced as she glared disapprovingly at him. He stuck out his tongue like a childish little boy. "Just be glad you don't know what I'm _thinking_. Heaven forbid." It was only a joke, he didn't mean for her to look like a ripe tomato in a blonde wig, though he was satisfyingly amused enough to stop his teasing. But he wasn't sure whether she was angry or embarrassed.

Shrugging, he ignored her, and lifted the hem of his tight yellow-and-blue sleeveless top. "W-what are you doing?" Serenity cried, her arms flapping at her sides. He glanced at her, one perfect silver brow quirking up. "Taking of my clothes…why?" He really was curious. Yeah, curious on what her reaction would be. As wrong as it seemed, it was so fun to tease her. He would go to unlimited lengths if he wanted his curiosity peaked.

Serenity shook her head furiously. She felt miserable right now, wanting to moan and run away. She faintly wondered if the pixie dust hadn't worn off, then maybe she would break for it and fly off to anywhere that didn't have Riku on it. He was being glaringly ridiculous, and rude. Didn't he consider what she was feeling right now? Didn't he even think of her being so conflictingly unaccustomed with the emotions? "Don't do that. n-not in front of me!" she covered her face with her hands. "Why?" Riku asked simply, mocking curiosity.

He lazily threw off his shoes, and plucked his black gloves away from his fingers, already shirtless. Serenity, no matter how degrading she looked when gapping, could not help but stare at his perfectly formed body. Every muscle was gingerly toned and just about visible, but hinted of a silent sort of dangerousness that had no right to be ignored. His four packed abs, his chest…he seemed so right at the moment. Reality hit her in the face when she realized he was reaching for his pants. "You're not serious…are you?" She squeaked, quickly looking away when he glanced at her.

But he only moved to unbuttoned the violet legwarmers that were attached to his midnight blue denim shorts. He smirked, "Now, what's going on in that pretty little blonde head of yours?" He abruptly tossed the legwarmers her way, and she caught it automatically. Giving out a muffled yelp, she dropped it almost at once, as if it was some rodent that had leaped into her arms. Her ears burned when she heard his rich laugh, but it was partly out of anger. "_Arrgh_, you are such a _jerk_!"

"Wow, now I've never been called _that_ before," Riku muttered sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he smiled, satisfied as he felt the weight of her glaring at him. He shrugged, bringing his arms to the back of his neck as he stretched, sharply hearing the faint popping of his shoulder joints snapping back into place. Sighing slightly, he stared out into the distance of the ocean, as if he could see something from the far distance. He pointed an arm to a faint, unique glitter across the surface of the water far away. "Look there. Those are dolphins. They come here often, mainly because there food source is always here. Y'know, schools of fish." He explained, smiling.

Serenity had no idea that fish had schools, and she had never seen a live dolphin before, only reading them in books. Michele had painted a dolphin in the ocean once, as clear and as vivid as all the teal-haired Neptunian's wonderful artwork. She had bee desperate to see one ever since. But she knew she couldn't swim. It wasn't because she didn't know how, but she couldn't go in water with a white dress, it would surely cling to her like a second skin.

"Come on, stop being such a baby." Riku muttered, "Jump right in, it'll be the best time of your life!" But Serenity thought of a far better idea, and quite suddenly she shoved him into the water, along with his muffled yelp. The impact sent small waves splashing into the edge of the dock, some droplets staining the hem of her skirt. He emerged out of the water, gasping in one deep breath, before laughing. "Beautiful, I had no idea you had it in ya." She promptly shook her head, her arms crossed. "You disserved it, you jerk!" Riku nodded in mock agreement, "yeah, right." He really was pushing it, the sad part was that is was working.

Riku swam to the edge of the shallow dock. "Well, the least you could do is help me up," he said, sighing in defeat. Narrowing her eyes, she asked, "And why should I?" she was not about to let him go that easy. He shrugged, smiling idly, "well, _maybe _it's because you pushed me into the water, and might I add that I almost _drowned_." Serenity still had her arms crossed. "_Almost_…unfortunately," she reasoned stubbornly. Riku glared at her, his expression looking suspiciously like a pout. He sighed dramatically, "You're so mean, Beautiful. Keep this up and you'll be ending up like your mother…"

Serenity glanced at him sharply, "And since when do you know my mum?" Riku shrugged offhandedly, grabbing the edge of the dock for support. "That time you were sick. I had no choice but to bring you into the palace, effectively getting myself in a hell of a load of trouble with one of your court. It was that short-haired blonde, I think. Your mommy is a bit merciful, if not happy-go-lucky." He frowned, "You know, you really did have me worried that time."

Serenity stared. He sounded sincere, he was sincere. She smiled, "that was the nicest thing I've ever heard you say." She grinned, and offered him an arm to take. "Nicer than my nickname for you?" Riku teasingly asked, grinning. Serenity rolled her eyes, feeling his hand grab onto her arm appreciatively. "Watch it, or I just might have the urge to let go," She muttered, almost irritable. "Aright then," Riku agreed, his sapphire eyes gleaming. With a swift tug, Riku pulled her into the salt water, unusually delighted to hear her scream of surprise as she fell directly above him.

Serenity felt herself slammed right into his arms. Almost instantly she retaliated, rapping her fists against his chest furiously. And yet, the onslaught had no affect, and she could barely move. Her unladylike cursing was muffled, fortunately, by the salt water that swathed into her mouth every time she tired to scream. She could only watch, furious, as puffs of small transparent bubbles floated up into the surface from her mouth. Suddenly, she was hauled up, and she gasped.

"Do you even know _how_ to swim?" She heard Riku question, almost skeptical. She hadn't noticed that she hadn't bother to swim to the surface until he had pulled her up. "Of course I do!" Serenity almost screamed, swimming away from him with an angry look. "You are _so_ in a lot of trouble! This dress is dry-cleaned only! I'm telling my mum!" he swam after her, slightly surprised, "aw, c'mon, you look _beautiful_ when you're wet!" He heard her gasp, and then she screamed out in frustration. "Was it something I said?"

Riku had swum to the dock, and pulled himself up to sit at the edge at to watch her, frowning. Serenity still stayed stubbornly in the water, beside the dock that Riku sat on. "Come up. You might get a cold or something," He said, a little worried. She shook her head mulishly, both hands holding on to one of the columns that held the dock up, "No way!" Riku raised a silver brow, "Why?" she paused, and a blush rose up her damp cheeks. Riku, suddenly understanding, glanced away, unable to restrain his blush. "Ooooh, _that_…" He got to his feet, and walked out of sight from the blonde.

He came back brief moments later, a satisfied smile lifting his lips. "Here, you could wear my shirt," He said, handing her his blue-and-yellow sleeveless top. She stared at it for a moment, and then up at him. Serenity smiled, her eyes gleaming impishly, "Thanks." She grabbed the top, and before Riku had a chance to let go, he was pulled in along with it.

He burst out of the water, glaring. "_That_ was uncalled for," He muttered, watching as Serenity offhandedly pulled on his shirt. Smiling innocently, she heaved herself up onto the dock. She stood there, grinning, and staring at him with teasing eyes. "_That_, my friend, was payback," She corrected, wagging her finger. Riku only stared, his brows raised and his mouth slightly gaping. She stood there, with _his_ shirt clinging to her delicately appealing body, and looking downright gorgeous. The blue-and-yellow top was surprisingly big on her, the hem of it reaching her thighs, and the shoulders slumping to make it look like it did have sleeves.

"Stop staring at me like that." He heard her say, and instantly fell out from his happy stupor. He grinned, "Didn't I tell ya? You do look beautiful when you're wet." Serenity glared at him, her hands on her hips. "Why can't you think of anything other than that?" She questioned, sighing wearily. Riku leaped into the dock, making her jump in surprise. "Its hard not to, to tell you the truth," He mumbled whisperingly, his pale eyes boring into her. He brought up his hand, tracing his fingers across her cheek and pulling back a stray golden hair over her ear. "Really, really hard."

Riku smiled, watching slightly disappointed that for a short moment she looked almost timid, discomforted by his actions. Was it worth it? Was it worth causing her displeasure, so to make him happy and satisfied? Maybe for this one moment he could give it a chance, just for a short time, and then he would leave forever. Then he wouldn't feel like he betrayed someone by caring for another.

He watched as Serenity seemed to slowly close her eyes, waiting blissfully for something. His eyes seemed to grow unusually heavy, and he licked his suddenly dry lips, staring at Serenity's own pink lips. His head lowered, further and further until he could feel her quick breathing brush against him. And then he frowned, staring as she waited with a trancelike expression, and yet he unable to avert his eyes away from her mouth. It wasn't till a second later that he realized what he was doing, and with a frustrated sigh he pulled away, making her stumbled back.

She blinked, absently blushing strawberry-red, "Riku?" Serenity stared at him, surprised and embarrassed at herself. He did not look happy himself, with his eyes narrowed, looking as if he was surprised and angry at his own behavior. Riku avoided her eyes, ignoring her, staring at the dock's wooden floor. She bowed her head, "I'm sorry…" He froze, shocked, and then he glanced up at her.

Serenity flinched as she felt the unpleasant weight of his stare fall on her, but she continued to keep her head bowed. "I'm sorry if I did anything to make you mad…" She glanced up at him a little, "are you mad at me?" how in the world would she ever think that he would be mad at her? He was almost irritated that she was so ignorant. Riku blinked, unprepared for an answer, "I…"

Before he could do anything, however, something sprang out of the water, sending waves that rocked the columns of the dock. It was large, white and slightly transparent, blazing yellow eyes bulging out. The strange creature thrust a thick, smoky-white tentacle down at the both of them. Scowling, Riku shoved Serenity to the side, both diving into the water, leaving the dock to contort into pieces of splintering wood. The creature let out an angry, high-pitched wail.

Serenity spun in circles as the waves shoved her around aimlessly in wild five-foot torrents. White water warped around the once-placid surface. She gasped, unable to hold her breath as she was raked around with the waves, unintentionally gulping down a handful of brine. She thrashed her legs and arms wildly, scared and confused. As the waves began to gradually calm, she immediately tried to swim up to the surface.

Something coiled itself around both her legs, slimy and rough grazing her bare skin unpleasantly. It pulled her down suddenly, swift and unmerciful as it did so. She tried to scream, but it only lead to another handful of sea water swallowed down her throat. She lashed out her arms, desperately trying to reach out for something, unable to scream for help. Faint blood slipped out of her mouth, lifting up to the surface in thin wisps of sickening red.

Horrorstricken, she sharply looked over her shoulder. Another creature, with the same burning yellow eyes, was pulling her down into the trenches. It was covered ridiculously in seaweeds of different shaded greens, holding a deadly harpoon on its left seaweed-infested hand. Her legs were wrapped tightly with the same seaweed that mummified the creature's body. She shifted her legs, trying to slip one leg out of the seaweed bindings. It pulled her further and further in, and her ears began to feel pressure. Her head hurt, and soon she wasn't even able to move. Slowly, she felt her eyes slump downward, seeing nothing but dark blankness. And then, as if tired from a long day, she fainted. Though, before her eyes closed, she could vaguely see a white light pummel towards her.

**-**

The corridors were unusually empty; pillars against the hallway's walls, supporting the glass roof, not a sound could be heard. It would take a simple strut out of his bedroom door for him to notice this, but he didn't bother. The stars were dim, barely emitting enough light to even give out shadows. He could've sworn he saw one star in particular blink out of existence just outside his bedroom window. What was happening? He needed to go; he needed to leave this place. The fate of humanity was counting on him to save every world, every dimension around him, and what was he doing? Being pampered like some prince who could do nothing without help, being praised by strangers, and even yelled at every time he lifted a finger to help himself or others.

Was this how a life of luxury was? To let others do things that were so ridiculously easy, and simply stand there and wait till it's done, watching in the sidelines like some dumfounded jackass? It was strange to be pampered by people he hardly even knew, annoying even. They never leaved him alone, and the only comfort of privacy he had was his bedroom sweet and bathroom.

Sora had woken up from a nightmare, now letting his legs dangle at the side of the bed as he sat, slumped forward. His shirt was taken off and was lying uselessly at a far corner, simply for the reason that it had been damped with sweat the moment he had woken up from the hateful dream. His brown hair, more ruffled than ever before, was clenched by his hands, as he messaged his scalp and tried to rid of the tension he felt. His hands then slid down to his face, and he rubbed his eyes, yawing openly.

A dream, a nightmare. That's all it was, nothing more. Why did it feel so real, though? There was red everywhere, carcasses lying limp on the marble stairs and floors of a white ballroom, barely even letting its once-white walls shine pristinely once more. He did not will himself to think of what the red liquid was. And then he saw the Earth, high above the ballroom, completely incased in shadows. And there was a ruby-eyed woman, hair as red as the liquid that stained the floor, laughing at all of the hateful carnage with a sadistic sort of bliss. He hated her, he wanted to hurt her, and he wanted to cry out with frustrated tears.

And then…there she was, kneeling in front of a mangled, bloody body. Serenity, wearing a heavenly gown of pearls, golden garnish, and thin silk. Her pretty dress was stained with the carcasses red blood before her, and she sobbed so wildly, glaring with a hate he had never seen in her. This searing hate was directed at the red-haired woman that happily laughed in hysterics. Serenity seemed older, around eighteen. He watched, frozen in place, as she raised a shimmering gold sword. He couldn't move, he couldn't speak, he couldn't cry. And she plunged the knife into her stomach, the blade effectively breaking through her and emerging out of her back with a sickening crunch as her spine collapsed. She died, in front of him, and he still stared blank-faced, restrained from all emotion except the horror that shined expressively in his bottomless blue depths.

And that was the moment he had woke up, sweat damping him and letting his clothes cling onto him like an unusual second skin. Sora tried to get up, and he felt slightly dizzy as he finally stood straight, slightly leaning forward and then coming to almost fall backwards. Shaking his head once, he stumbled through the room, groping in the darkness. His left hand found a cold brass metal, and he closed his finger around what he could only presume as a knob. As the door stood ajar, the light was unbearable at first, but as he narrowed his eyes open it became acceptingly clear. The white light gave him a brief dose of nausea, his head aching unpleasantly, but that did not stop him from walking into the spacious bathroom.

It was amazing how almost everything was made of marble. Even the toilet was marble, as strange as it seemed. Sora hobbled over to the large marble sink, eyes still narrowed into slits. He twisted the glass knob of the faucet, almost pleased to hear the loud running water. He waited for awhile, still relishing the hissing sound of tap water falling out of the faucet, and then he twisted it back off. The water was now reaching the rim of the bowl-like sink, almost completely full.

Sora took a deep breath, his square shoulders slumping down relaxingly. With a swift thrust down, he dropped his head into the water, his hands gripping at the edge of the sink. His eyes were wide open now; his head still plunged down into the tasteless, transparent liquid. He then hauled his head back out, his hair sticking back onto his scalp and out of his face. That was an effective wake up call one would use when very desperate, and seeing as he reviled coffee, it seemed like the only good tactic he could follow.

Taking another, more contented deep breath he ran his finger through his damp hair. He really did need to take a shower at the moment, seeing as he was drenched head to toe in sweat. The again, he never really took baths often, for the one fact that he was too busy killing off armies of Heartless to be given any time to clean himself more properly. These past few days were one of the extremely rare moments were he could actually have a time to take a bath. It was refreshing, yes, but he was a boy who'd rather play in the mud with the other boys instead of the complete opposite.

Rubbing his eyes, he grabbed a washcloth from the railing on the wall, and ruffled it against his hair, letting it spring back into its unruly style. He slapped the cloth around his neck and walked out of the room, switching off the lights on his way out. Sora didn't feel any use in trying to strain to see in the darkness, and almost automatically walked toward his bed. A bit too soon, however, his clumsiness got the better of him. His navy-blue pajama slacks seemed to be to low for him, and he tripped on the hem of the baggy slacks. Groaning at the unfairness of the timing, he dragged himself upright, sitting on the carpeted floor with his legs folded against one another.

A knock on the door made Sora pause from rubbing his head, flinching at the sudden shrill noise. Ignoring the dull ache on his forehead, which would eventually bruise, he stumbled to his feet and groped for the bedroom door. "Who is it?" He called irritably, still stumbling forth in the darkness, and then mumbled to himself, "Where the heck is that light switch?"

"It's me." He could only just hear the purposely soft-spoken voice, and it was vaguely familiar. Mumbling incoherently, he pressed his hands on the walls to feel out the light switch, trying to hurry so he could get to the door. By the time he turned on the lights, he was irritated by both the insistent pounding and the blinding golden lights above him. He sharply opened the door, cutting off the knocking, and he glared with one eye open.

"Yes?" He mumbled, more politely than he presently felt. He quickly blinked both eyes open, and stared. The person in front of him beamed, "Hi!" Sora really tried, he truly and honestly did, but he was not able to bite back the unhappy groan he breathed out. "Hi, Mina…" He mumbled grudgingly, though slightly amused. He should've been expecting the blonde Venusians to find him sooner or later. It was almost an everyday game of hide-and-seek for him, sort of.

"Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if Serenity was in there. Is she?" She grinned widely, trying to peer over Sora's bare shoulder. He blinked as he stared, quirking up one dark-hazel brow. "Mina, it's in the middle of the night, and everyone's probably in bed." Mina grinned wider, making Sora feel wary. "Why would you think Serenity would be in _my_ room?" to his mild surprise, she began to giggle, and the fit did not look like it would stop anytime soon. "No _particular_ reason, Sora-dear," She giggled.

He furrowed his brows, frowning and glaring slightly. "What does that suppose to mean? And what exactly do you think she would _do_ in my room, anyway?" He was irritated to hear mere giggles as his answer. Mina then sighed, "Well, I suppose she isn't here…" Her eyes traveled up and down his body, her brows lifted, and then she let out a low whistle of admiration. "She hasn't come back from, err, who knows where."

Sora's interests were peaked. "What? Did she go somewhere?" ignoring her gawking, he leaned his shoulder on one side of the doorframe, casually folding his arms against his bare chest. Mina bobbed her head numbly, looking half distracted with something. Sora ignored this though, only lifting a single brow. "Some maid had said that she flew right out of the window a few minutes before dusk, with a boy." She tapped a finger against her chin thoughtfully, "She didn't give a good description of him, but she had no doubt that he had silver hair—hey, Sora, where are you going!"

The brown-haired boy had not bothered to hear the rest of it, taking off towards the hallways.

**- **

_She didn't know where she was, but it certainly was a beautiful place. Coconut palms towered over her, motionless and stiff, but still appearing pleasant, a few having peculiar purple and yellow leaves. It was sunny; there was no doubt that the blinding gold light above her had to be the sun, even when she couldn't identify it clearly. She was lying on her back, and she felt the rough feeling of sand against her bare skin. Yawning happily, she sat herself upright. "Where am I?" She surveyed the beautiful yet unfamiliar surroundings she was suddenly in. _

_Serenity clumsily got to her feet, stumbling slightly before she stood straight. "Isn't it beautiful?" She heard a pleasant voice say, sounding not far from herself. She turned around sharply, wide-eyed in surprise. A girl, beaming enthusiastically, was staring straight at her. "Um, hello," Serenity greeted, smiling politely. _

_The girl had short, flaccid red hair shortening just below her chin. She wore a pale pink, thigh-length skirt, a white spaghetti-trapped top over a black sleeveless top, and pretty strap-on white shoes. She was beautiful, in a gentle and vulnerable way. Serenity had honestly never seen a person that emitted such innocence and happiness. Her eyes were royal blue, and as deep as Sora's. Her complexion was only faintly tanned, though it was no mystery seeing as she was on a sunny beach. _

"_My name's Kairi. I lived here." The redhead casually walked to the shore of the sea, staring into the endless body of water as if she could see something there that no one else could. "Lived?" Serenity wondered aloud, staring at the girl's back. Kairi nodded absently. "Yup. Its gone now…I don't even know where I am." This confused the blonde. _

_Kairi shifted, sitting herself down on the sand, hugging her legs closer against her chest. "I already know who you are, though. Sora's mind is as vulnerable as an open book," She giggled. "You are Serenity, princess of the moon." She did not question, only stated. How much did the girl know, anyway? _

"_I hope he comes for me soon…I really want to see him again." Serenity felt a knot slowly grow inside her chest, as she heard the audible sadness in the redheads tone. "Who is this, he?" She asked. A blunt laugh reached her ears, confusing her even further. "Sora…" Kairi replied softly, "I will wait for him, always." _

_Serenity stared blankly, blinking. "You love him…" It was not a question, more of a statement. Kairi looked over her shoulders, a faint blush creeping up her cheeks, and she looked surprise. She sighed, shifting up to stand. "It's obvious, isn't it?" she said, laughing ruefully. She seemed hopeless, a vulnerable little girl that had just been denied love. _

"_But does that stop you? I mean…he loves you, too, right?" Serenity questioned, not noticing the way the redhead stared at her, innocently oblivious to the fact that was smack-dab in front of her. She felt a slight knot in her chest as she said these words, as if she was hurting herself by admitting this. "Love is a beautiful thing, something that could never be ignored. You shouldn't give up so easily!" Kairi stared, wide-eyed in surprise. Then she smiled, amused at the blondes ignorance. "Yeah, maybe, if I am proven wrong about him loving someone else." She walked up to the blonde, and embraced her in a friendly hug. "Though, meeting you, I don't really mind if I am proven correct." _

"_Will you promise me something?" Kairi asked hopefully. Serenity nodded, slightly shocked at the sudden openness from the girl. "Don't see him anymore, please. Something bad will happen…" she felt a sharp pain in her head when Kairi finished, the girl vanished from her arms. _

"Please, _please_ don't die on me…" Riku pressed his hands against her motionless chest, afterwards pinching her nose and bringing down his trembling lips to harshly brush against hers in his haste, breathing into her. Quickly breaking away from her lips, he continued to press his hands against her chest. "Wake up," He cried uselessly, and then performed another panicked type of CPR.

He had killed off every sea-heartless that came after him. It was effortless, but it distracted him long enough for him to realize too late. By the time he had killed off the heartless that had dragged Serenity down into the sea, she was by now unconscious. He had taken all his anger out on that one creature, slicing it unrelentingly with his gleaming sword Oblivion. And here he was, for the very first time experiencing what it truly meant to feel afraid and useless.

Serenity was limp, unmoving, her complexion loosing its faint rosy glow, frighteningly pale and gloomy. It angered him that she wouldn't wake up. It _frightened_ him that she wouldn't wake up. Another CPR and still she didn't move. His actions became demanding, and his head screamed out for help. He was not use to the emotion of fear and sadness, he couldn't handle it. Why couldn't she just wake up?

He brought his lips down again, breathing into her. He nearly fell back when he felt her stir against him. She moaned, sounding pained and tired. As he drew away, she coughed harshly, saltwater spewing out of her mouth. "Ouch…what happened?" She mumbled groggily, her voice throaty and forced. Before she could react, she was held tightly in the arms of Riku. "Don't you _ever_ scare me like that," he whispered fiercely, though the tone was muffled as he buried his face in her damp hair.

Serenity said nothing, blank-faced and confused. Her dream, was it real? And that girl, she was that girl Sora kept mentioning. Kairi. What was she going to do? What did Kairi want her to do? It wasn't fair. Tears pooled around the rim of her eyes, threatening to fall in gentle sobs. She wasn't one to trust on omens, but it felt too real, what if something bad was going to happen? She did not want to believe that her own friend was an enemy, or anything close to dangerous. He was too happy, too innocent. She knew that, she could _feel_ it.

She felt Riku hug tighter, feeling him tremble against her. Her troubles had to be concerned later, right now she needed to know if Riku was all right…

**-**

Give out any comment on this chapter; ask questions if you're confused, because I don't even know if this makes enough sense. Well, I tried to put some romance in there as best I could, or at least something like that…the dream sequence was a little crappy, or worse, but I'm not really that enthusiastic right now, not when I was prohibited from the internet for what felt like a torturing bit of eternity! Yeah, yeah, moving on. I have another fic that I'm thinking about, but it's a little random. Here's the summery…err, yeah. The title's called, "The Victim, or The Murder".

_Summery_: Usagi must kill a complete stranger to ensure her future of Crystal Tokyo. And if she can not will herself to do it, then her Senshi certainly will. But others are after her head, too, and she must fight and kill before she will ever be crowned Queen. So which are you, Usagi? The victim…or the murderer? There are other ways to change Destiny besides taking the life of another, so she says.

Eheheh, well, that's all I got. The crossover is up to the reviewers, which means you could vote. Hooray for you. (snickers) Crossover choices are: Weiss Kreuz, Harry Potter, Gundam Wing, Yu Yu Hakusho (sp?) and, I can't remember others. It's been a freakin' long time since I watched a decent anime, okay, so don't blame me if I don't know some! Err, sorry.

**Clueless97**: Glad you like it. Heh, Sora has to wear a suit in a ball; it would look strange for him to dance around with baggy pants and a dress shirt instead of a suit, so that's why Minako so "graciously" helped him out with that. Lol. Riku is right here in this chapter! I hope you like this chapter by the way. I see you are fond of Riku, eh? Hehe, gotta include him more then! He was just went somewhere. Hehe, but I won't tell you where. I'm not teasing, that's just the way it is. Lol, only kidding. KH2! I heard it was coming out on September. I was disappointed, because that's when my school starts; I am really busy when it comes to school. (Mumbles) it's not fair, really.

**SerenitYuy**: Hehe, I can tell that you really like this story. You really got that point out, ne? And I am certainly pleased you did, thank you very much! Hmmm, pair her with Riku? There will be moments. Hehe, I hope you enjoyed this little Riku/Serenity moment on this chapter. It is a little action-packed, but it was a very cute moment, sort of. (sheepish grin) hope you like it, nevertheless!

**Azraelya**: yippee, I write prettily! Hehe, that was an extremely pleasing remark when it comes from you. Ooooh, I'd also like to bitch-slap silent readers! Just kidding! Or am I? Lol. (grins) so how do you think of this chapter? I tried to put some sort of physical contact with the characters, though it ended up with a damn tentacle-monster and a reluctant Riku. But, then again, it wouldn't matter. Your descriptions on physical intercourse are _much_ better, ne? Hehe. (bows) it is an honor to have you review, Lady Azraelya. Heh-heh. Would ya mind if you could give me some pointers on how to write, too, oh Great One? Yeah, your probably use to people praising on how good you are, eh? Hehe… I'm having a giggle fit, unfortunately. Hehe.

Buh-bai! ;3

Right now, uncharacteristically anti-hyper—S. Nestor


	11. Chapter 11: He's Stubborn, She's Beautif...

**Title**: The Hearts

**Burble**: Well, here it is. The eleventh chap to this story, people. This chapter takes place not too far past sunset, then coming to the midst of night. That is where Sora finds out Serenity's playing hooky with Riku from the last chapter. You may need to know this so not to be confused and all. well, don' know if the chapter's title makes sense, but i couldn't think of a better one! please mind my mistakes if any.

**Disclaimer**: well, haven't done this in awhile. I am not too willing either. But, to keep myself from getting sued, I will say this stupid thing once and only once. This shall be my last, I tell you! I do not own kingdom hearts or sailor moon. This is pointless, yes, but it is nice to laugh at myself for doing it and actually thinking you'll read, really. _Hardy_ har-_har_.

"Talking**"**

Emphasized words are also in _italic _(thoughts are in italic also)

**---**

Chapter 11: He's Stubborn, She's Beautiful

It was a quarter past nightfall.

Serenity drew in a slightly quivering breath, gently withdrawing from Riku's tight arms, completely patient when he was being slightly reluctant to let go of her. She looked up at him, her blue eyes idly low-lidded. She felt tired suddenly, even too exhausted to realize the slight pain in her dry throat and the aftermath of saltwater that had forced its way into her mouth only moments before.

Surveying herself absently, she was dazedly surprised to see a dark coat of red fluid staining the midst of the oversized yellow-and-blue top she wore. But it was not the clear evidence that the red stain was blood which shocked her, it was the fact that it was not her own.

"R-Riku…you're bleeding," She mumbled slowly, her eyes no longer indolent and low. Riku glanced down at the puncture wound just below his right abdominals, frowning. He made a good and highly convincing effort to look as though he did not feel the searing pain at all, but it did nothing to keep his pained eyes from narrowing a fraction. Maybe if he closed his eyes, the pain wouldn't feel too bad….

The gash was a marked consequence of him fighting a considerable amount of exceptionally dangerous creatures without considering what it would do to him. The gash drew blood gradually, but it did not look as if it would stop any time soon.

Riku shrugged away when he caught a glimpse of her movement, keeping his pale eyes downward, away from her face, convinced that she was shifting her hand as an effort to help. He _didn't_ need it. "Riku, don't be stubborn." He could feel the weight of her glaring at him, hearing her strain her hoarse voice to appear more firmly. It did little, though, to falter his stubbornness upon the situation.

"No," He confirmed with finality, "I can fix this…" A good amount of Potions would help him with the wound—the problem was did he have enough? He hardly ever used healing potions, simply for the fact that he _did not need them_. Every battle he had finished barely left him with a scratch, and every battle was fought with his otherwise hateful tactics and strategies, accurate though they were. He wasn't even sure he even _had _Potions. They were simply not needed for him. And, unlike Sora, he did not know a curing spell. He didn't think he'd need that either. Damn confidence was going to get him killed one of these years. Or days.

Ignoring his little bloody predicament, he studied Serenity soberly. Frowning, Riku reached for her legs, which were slightly flushed with bruises from the grip the heartless had had on her. Serenity flinched at his gingerly caressing touch, shying away with surprise and shifting her legs from his hand. Her movements had made her feel a little pain, though, and she winced quietly. Riku lifted a brow, "And your calling me stubborn?" he kept his voice calm, until the end where it slightly quivered. "I'm not stubborn, I'm shy. There's a difference," She replied, a little irritably.

The remark would have made him smirk, but his wound did not really lengthen his amusement. His lips quirked just slightly, but it was hard to tell whether it was for a smile or a wince, "And I'm sure there is." He carefully seized her legs again, and she could do nothing but hold her breath. Serenity, blushing despite the situation they were in, found it very hard to breath.

Was he just feeling her legs down just because he liked it, or was it because he was trying to see just how bad the bruises were? Riku wasn't quite sure himself, but he was guessing it was the second and more sensible answer. "If you don't treat this soon, it will swell," He mumbled, half solemn. "And what about you?" Serenity asked eagerly. Riku shrugged, trying to look as if his strained movements were casual. "It will heal." He wasn't sure who he was trying to convince. Himself or Serenity? God, he hated being ignorant at the moment.

Serenity, before Riku could stop her, had gently prodded at his wound with one simple finger. The touch would've been considered a slight tickle for others, but it sent a stinging pain wringing his body, the hard twinge traveling through him enough for him to clutch it, wincing. "You're a bad liar," she mumbled simply, her voice quiet. "Does it look like I practices…? And did you _have_ to touch it?" He muttered through gnawing teeth, letting go of his wound and looking on in disgust at his own blood that sodden his hand.

"Just let me have a look at it," She ordered gently, trying to win him over with sweet courtesy. He was stubborn still, moving away and yelping as he did so. Serenity glowered, "I may have bruises, but that's not gonna stop me—come here!" She reached for him, effectively grasping his arm. "Let go! You're only going to make it worse!" He complained, already feeling the searing pain coming back. "Are not," She protested. He pulled his arm away, "Are too."

Wordlessly, she pinned him to the ground. "_Stop_!" Serenity hissed. Somewhere between his tries to escape from her and her lunging for him, she had managed to set him still and immobile—the awkward part was that she had to sit on him. "Damn it, woman, get _off_ me!" he bellowed with what strength he had left.

Serenity shifted above him, pinning his legs down with hers and being careful not to sit on his wound, therefore she sat on his legs. "Still not over the nicknames, I see?" She muttered, getting irritated by his conceited obduracy. Her voice lowered considerably, sounding like nothing but a whisper, "Just let me help."

He would've enjoyed the interesting position they were in, but apparently he didn't want any help, even when it evolved a beautiful woman on top of him. He needed the help, desperately, but he didn't _want_ it. The persistent Dignity in men, you know.

Serenity withdrew one arm from pinning down one of his, quickly shifting her hand so it would hover over his bleeding wound. Gently, almost lovingly, she pressed her hand against his wound. He closed his eyes tight, turning his head away, and waited for another round of pain, feeling nothing but furiousness at the blonde's actions.

It never came.

And all he could feel was something warm pleasantly washing through his body. He was surprised more than he was relieved, the anger suddenly forgotten as if it were never there to begin with. Riku opened his eyes just in time to see a bright light dimming slowly, and as it did he found Serenity collapsed against him. "Sorry," She mumbled, sounding as if in a blissful daze, "I get really tired when I use my powers without the Crystal…" She tried to prop herself up, but she barely lifted her arm before she sighed hopelessly, almost whiningly.

Riku stared. She was resting her head on his chest, though for some reason he didn't feel as awkward as he had when they had first met. But it was obvious that she was still uncomfortable. Being this close to her, he could practically feel her tension and conflicting emotions. He shifted, gently moving, until he was standing perfectly, awed that he could feel no pain at all. The only evidence of the wound actually being there was the blood in his left hand. He held Serenity in his arms, holding her with ease now that he was woundless.

"Mmm, you smell like grilled cheese sandwiches…my favorite…" She cuddled closer, a happily dazed look on her face. Riku lifted a brow. Grilled cheese? Couldn't she have picked a better scent, like strawberries and cream? He didn't think on the matter any further, and he pressed his lips shut to keep from questioning. She was obviously too tired to even think properly. But this was fortunate, though, because she would've eventual protest on him carrying her along the way.

Riku shuddered only faintly, feeling a cold breeze smoothing throughout his bare back and wafting through his pants. For a moment, brief and heedless, he was slightly wishing that Serenity did not have his shirt on. He needed something to keep him warm, too, wet or otherwise—Riku glanced down at her—however, he wasn't sure if that was the only reason… _whoa, scratch that. _He shook his head firmly.

Flying across the landscapes and dimly lit villages, the cold tingle of wind against his skin intensified as he flew through clouds and startled nightly birds. He took no time in lingering, taking the closest root to the Kingdom of Earth. He needed to have a word with Maleficent. Even as his emotions cooled, he was still suspicious about the sudden attack of heartless, furious even.

Occasionally, Serenity mumbled in her sleep, cuddling against the oversized shirt adorned on her with an evident shudder, and snoring—by the way, rather loudly. It wasn't until she started to mumble about meatballs when he finally reached the window of her luxury guestroom. Shifting Serenity's limp body deftly onto one arm, he carefully pushed open the windowpane. It creaked open audibly, and for a brief time he stiffened. Poking his head through the wide-open window, he squinted into the midnight-blue darkness. Diagonal gray shadows were the only company for this vast room at the moment.

He carefully walked towards her bed, puddles of water trailing in his wake. Riku hesitated before laying her on the large bed, and he carefully brought his hands to her shoulders, gently forcing her to sit upright. Her head limped against her left shoulder, saltwater-wet hair slopping down and wetting some of the large fluff pillows. The nighttimes of earth were exceptionally freezing, making even he shudder noticeably. Though there were no comparison to the shuddering Serenity was going through since he had left the wrecked beach.

He gently grabbed the hem of the large shirt, slowly pulling it over her head and off of her as if she were a child, forcibly ignoring the curious creamy-white bra that was revealed against her heavily clinging, damp dress—and then some. He took his top and wringed out every drop of salty water, its droplets dissolving into the expensive-looking plush carpet. Riku frowned, staring at the blood-red blotch that stained his top. He would have to try and clean it up later, even if he wasn't all too familiar with womanly labor.

He stared down at her for a moment. It was the very presence of her, sleeping and yet uncomfortably wet, that had made his mind wander to how she had possibly managed to heal him so completely. Though he shouldn't be surprised that she had known some interesting Spells, he had not realized until only a few minutes prior that she was magically powerful. And what was it about that Crystal she was mumbling about?

Riku shook his head firmly, and glanced at the subject of his thoughts. Sighing at his ruined top, he slapped it against his shoulders, wincing as it made a cold, wet slap. He then walked towards Serenity and, halfheartedly, gently slipped the damp straps of her dress to let it fall from her shoulders. What he was doing was not of his choice, actually he had almost _no_ choice in the matter. Her getting pneumonia because of him was not what he had wanted on his guilt list at the moment, and yet the list was full enough already to begin with.

He found it rather hard to breath, as he continued to pull down her dress. Really, he couldn't just _avoid _something that was smack-dab in front of him, though he desperately tried, looking away as he was given quite an interesting view of her undergarments. For some reason his hands wouldn't go any faster than its current slow pace at unbuttoning the buttons at the back of the dress.

There was a moment were she stirred, and he froze—never in his life had he felt so caught in the headlights—but the movement was only to let out a rather loud yawn. He pulled away almost harshly, as he finally got her sundress off her, though it felt like he was holding something nasty rather than a simple summer dress.

After setting her in a more dried space of the enormous bed, he tucked her in, giving a thoughtful look before inching down and kissing her goodnight, his lips brushing against her forehead in a tender brotherly manner. The feeling was unusually pleasant for him, and as his lips drew away from her head his eyes traveled down to stare at her own lips. Like he had said, it was really hard not to think of temptation. For a fleeting moment he wondered if the unusually pleasant feeling would heighten if he kissed her lips instead.

He paused, realizing that he was still only inches from her face. It was such a wrong thing to think of, a very awkward thing to attempt. She was half naked for crying out loud! But, then again, he wasn't really fully clothed himself…Riku shook his head furiously. He wasn't even supposed to be having this conversation with himself! "God, Beautiful, you really have me messed up." He could just picture her scolding him for thinking so lecherously, telling him what a jerk he was and himself loving every moment of it.

Serenity awoke at the midst of night, or at least that was what she could decipher. Her eyes opened slowly, unable to lift her heavy eyelids any further than halfway. Her first line of view was the white ceiling of her room, and instantly her mind raced with questions. Drawing her brows close, she shifted, dragging herself up to lean on one of her larger pillows as she sat upright. Her eyes then wandered through the room, immediately finding her silver-haired friend seated on a stool on her right bedside, a dim replica of his charming smile set upon his lips.

"Hey…" He greeted vaguely, his pale eyes fixed solely on her face. Serenity ignored it, though. "Have you been in that stool the whole time?" She was a bit too tired to raise her voice, so it hadn't sound as incredulous as she had felt. He rolled his eyes, offering her a glass of water. "No, I slept on the floor." It was hard to tell whether he was sarcastic or not. "Why? I wouldn't mind if you slept in my bed at all! It really is unfair for me to be sleeping in this huge bed while you sleep on the floor." Riku suddenly appeared uncomfortable, rubbing his hand against his nape. "Yeah…" he muttered in a soft, blank tone. He avoided looking at her suddenly.

She realized why he acted so unusually, though it did not help with the predicament. To the waist up her figure was completely bare, save fortunately for her thin, strapless white bra. The rest of her undergarments were gratefully covered by a fluffy pink blanket. What she had said earlier sounded very awkward now that she realized she was half naked. Shifting uncomfortably and groaning at her completely embarrassing bad luck, she hastily pulled the blanket to wrap around her chest.

There were a few moments of tongue-tied silence, of which either of them were too embarrassed to speak. Closing her finger gingerly around the glass cup of water, she muttered finally, "What happened…?" She then took a rather long gulp of water. "You fainted, remember," He replied, somewhat slowly. At that one bit of information, she suddenly remembered it all, and her cheeks almost instantly flustered. "Oh..." her face grew redder as she spoke, "How did I end up like _this_?" There was pause, followed by another round of agonizing silence.

"I…didn't want you to get sick…so I had to undress you," Riku replied at last, slow and cautious, afterwards bracing himself for anything that evolved a slap across the face. He was surprised, however, to hear her wearily soft sigh. "That was very, err, thoughtful of you…" he thought of her as the type to think of his prior actions fairly inappropriate, but then again it was out of a concern for her health after all. For this he was completely relived.

"y'know, you really don't look that bad in a wonder bra…" perhaps that wasn't the best way to strike up a different subject to their conversation, but he really couldn't help but tease, every opportunity just alerted him of the tempting possibility. And then there was the fact that he was being honest. Oh, and how honest he was.

Riku gave out a muffled cry when a pillow was thrown his way. He would've easily caught it, but he deliberately let himself be slapped by a pillow anyway, she'd get that much of a chance at least.

Serenity was flushed, her fingers clenched between another pillow, ready to hit him if he dare say another offensive word. Her ears flushed angrily when she heard his laughs. "You are such a jerk!" She flung another pillow towards him, to which he dodged with ease. "What, do you want me to say you look better with it off?" He asked, but another pillow came hurtling towards him instantly, seeming more determinedly-thrown than the others. He fell back from his chair, shocked at such strength from the throw. "I warned you, you jerk!" he heard her cry.

Getting up to sit upright, he turned to glare at her. However, the moment his eyes met her, he found it utterly impossible to even breathe much less glare at her properly. She was so angry that she had completely forgotten that the blanket—which had been the only thing keeping her from being half-nude—was now at her knees, as she kneeled on her bed, her clenched fist at her sides, shaking with anger, her hair tumbling down her figure and carefully hiding some more interesting parts, though it didn't help from depriving him of a good look. He felt blood burn against his cheeks, and he didn't know whether to grin or be completely embarrassed. It was so hard to choose.

"Stop it! I can't believe even after we were nearly _killed_, you're still behaving like an idiot!" Riku shook his head faintly, forcing himself rather reluctantly to avoid staring at her. Truth be told, he had never seen a girl anywhere near nudity. Never. And Serenity's evidently thin undergarments left much to the imagination. Well, this would certainly count as his first.

But she was right, he simplified. He was being childish, which really felt unusual for him, but wonderful all the same. Somewhere in his mind he would realize that it was somewhat sadistic on loving to tease the blonde, but all of it didn't seem as bad. God, she looked beautiful when she was angry, and that was what he most enjoyed as an aftermath of his taunting.

His expression hardened suddenly. "What were the Heartless doing there in the first place?" He felt his nails dig into his palm as he balled his hands into fists, knowing only one possible person who would be able to track him down and send Heatless to attack. "Maleficent…" the word came out of his mouth as though it was something fowl and disgraceful, and in a sense it truly was. Maleficent. Her name was fitting to describe the dark entity that she was. Even he was wary of the woman, regardless to his alliance with the Shadows. The attack proved that the woman was not helping him for his best interests.

Serenity was slightly frightened at the silver-haired youths menacing expression, but his pale eyes were glaring only at the ground he sat on. Had she reminded him of something that triggered his anger? Her anger had fled almost immediately, replaced with concern. She eased her way off the enormous bed, and grabbed the closest thing to clothes she could find. It just so happened to be a smoky-blue silken nightgown. Though it did nothing to hide her legs, it did not entirely give away her torso and mid-thighs, and for this she was grateful.

She waved a hand in front of Riku's face, and after a moment he looked up. "Thinking," Was his only reply, as he stared at her questioning blue eyes. His eyes traveled down to her choice of clothing, "what the hell is that?" Serenity blushed. "It's a nightgown, and Zoicite got it for me…" She glowered at the thought of the blonde general. Riku lifted his brows, "Well, tell this Zoicite he's got good taste." He then roused himself up to stand, ignoring her glaring at him.

"Where are you going?" She cried, stumbling to her feet. Riku seemed threateningly taller than her suddenly, but she continued to crane her neck up at him, determined not to be the first to break the unexpected staring battle. Riku grinned suddenly, "You don't want me to leave, hmm?" He grabbed his top from around his neck and pulled it down his head, effectively letting it slump down and fit perfectly onto his torso. "I'll come back, Beautiful, you could count on that." Before she could stop him, he left out the window. Serenity hurried to watch him fly away, but he was nowhere in sight by the time she reached the window.

She had felt more disappointed than she realized. Sulking towards her bed, she did a backward leap onto it, sighing as her back collapsed against the soft cushiony pillows. She sat there for a moment, suddenly realizing that it was still night hours and she had a sufficient amount of time to sleep. A shame that she couldn't, though. It was hard to sleep when your minds spinning and confused. Even when she didn't want to be, she was slightly suspicious of Riku. And the dream…she did not want to believe that it was true…

A knock on the door made her flinch, and she twisted around the bed to stare at the bedroom door. "Serenity, are you in there?" it was Sora, the very boy that had just recently been troubling her thoughts. Leaping off the bed, she hurried towards the door. "Coming!" she assured him, and the knocking had ceased to a stop. Opening the door, she gave a ready smile.

"Were you here the whole time?" that was the first thing that came out of his mouth. "Yes," She lied, blinking as if she were curious to why he was so worried. He didn't want him to worry. If the dream was true, something terrible would happen if he was involved with her too much. She bit her lip nervously at the thought.

Sora sighed and then, for the first time since he arrived at her door, he noticed what she was wearing. He blushed. "Umm, it was a present from Zoicite. You remember him, right?" She smiled dimly. Sora snickered softly. Oh, he remembered him all right. The young man was being a bit too close with Serenity. Even as a friend it was hard to tolerate the pigtailed general's antics. "So…you're okay then?" Sora stared at her with concern. "Yes, I am perfectly fine!" She said, giving an overenthusiastic laugh.

Sora lifted his brows at this, "Are you sure…?" Serenity suddenly pushed him backward, "Hey, what was that for?" She only continued to smile. "Oh, nothing. Listen, it's late, you really need to get some sleep!" Sora opened his mouth to say something about this, but he slowly closed it, thinking it would be better not to ask why she was acting with such false happiness. "Alright...I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" He stared at her face, waiting for an answer. "I'll be busy…with Prince Endymion, remember?" Her heart sank at the disappointed look on Sora's face. "But we could always meet up later!" She added quickly. He grinned. "Okay then, later…"

Serenity closed the door behind her, hearing the soft footfalls of her earthling friend walk away. She collapsed against the door. Why was she trying to avoid him? She couldn't possibly be taking the dream seriously, now, could she? It felt so wrong to avoid someone just because of a silly dream. She didn't want to believe it…

**-**

**- **

Well, if this doesn't make sense than that's my fault. This was supposed to get out on Saturday but I had to leave the house for awhile to go on a two day vacation. I was reluctant, really, but they forced me to come because my room was being constructed to get bigger. Plus, I am feeling rather ill. Aight though, I'm keeping it real. Though if this chapter doesn't make sense than you could point that out if you want. I'm really tired right now. Sorry if this is too short. (shrugs) I don' know if it ism but I hope ya'll like it.

**Azrealya**: Ah, adding it to your favorites are you now? I am very pleased indeed. (Grins) you wanted more Sere/Riku moment, you got it. Err, though I'm not sure its satisfying enough, I didn't sleep much while writing this chapter. Hehe. Nonsense, your chapters are exceptionally long! That's why I love Slave so much! Besides, my chapters aren't all long. Seven pages aren't long in my minds eye, but I tolerate it anyway. Ahh, I can explain that little mistake on grammar. I was kinda playing with my Microsoft Word font and paragraph's autocorrecting, and it completely messed up the last chapter all of a sudden. Took me long minutes before I could fix it up again, the bad part was I didn't proofread enough, so some of the mistakes stayed that way. Get it? (Shrugs) either way, I sincerely thank you for pointing that out!

**Clueless97**: Ahh, I find the teasing amusing myself. Do it all the time to my friends and family. So you do like Riku. Does that mean you want him to be paired with Serenity? I've been having some thoughts on that. Err, anyway I hope you liked this chap too. Oh, I can tell that Riku's feeling much better now, yup, much happier. Though he will not be happy when he meets Maleficent, I can tell you that much. A little spoiler for the next chapter, just for you. Heh-heh.

_Note_: I probably already know what your answers would be, but just for the hell of it I'll make sure. You guys want Riku with Serenity or what? Because if this is true, I would have to make the romance a bit faster. However, Riku is not going to get Serenity without a fight. Sora is still a part of this love thing too, although not entirely important, and it's the same for Endymion. Jealousy and controversy will get in the way of Riku. Muahahaha! (Pouts) but personally, I like Sora very much…but I like Riku moooore. Hehe.

Sincerely yours—S. Nestor! ;D buh-bai!


	12. Note

**Important note**: this story is currently posponed. sorry, but my house is being extended and we _must_ cut off the internet for awhile, meaning i am unable to update! i am going out of my mind! i never been away from the net for this long without my willing it! i am only using the internet now because i am borrowing a laptop from a friend. _please_ forgive me. i am also unable to _review_. a damn shame that's what it is! woe is me...

Fame me if you want, i won't be checking my e-mail for awhile. XC--S. Nestor


	13. Chapter 12: untitled

**Title**: The Hearts

**Author's Note: **'Ello! S'been awhile hasn't it? Well, I'm back with a new chapter. Sorry for taking so long. I'm still having a problem with updating, 'cause my schedule is a little tight (how many times have I said _that_? XD), but I'll try to update and write the rest of this fic as much as I can!

**--- **

**Chapter 12**

The more he waited for the dark witch, the more his temper frighteningly magnified. The atmosphere seemed to drop to a discomforting subzero, and Riku's aura gave off all the cold signs of someone who was definitely _not_ to be messed with. Just to sit next to the handsome silver-haired youth was uncomfortable and nerve-racking for anyone, for he seemed ready to kill, gritting his teeth and glaring white hot daggers at anything in front of him.

Hook was a dignified, although privately cowardly, Captain pirate of the Neverland seas. And he, of course, after his unfortunate encounter with Peter Pan, from then on hated children. And Riku was nothing but a child to this scurvy pirate. But even the old Captain Hook knew not to get on the wrong side of this teen, who gave off a vastly imposing impression at that very moment.

"Ah—so, boy, why might you be doing back here?" Hook had his ways of persuading others with a venomous charm, in order to gain trust more than anything else. And at the moment, it was not wise to be suspected by this menacing-looking boy.

Riku's icy sapphire eyes were the only part of his body that regarded the older man, moving slowly to settle upon Hook as though he was sizing down his prey. The Captain suddenly wished that the boy was still glaring at the floor, and he anxiously adjusted his red collar with his metal hook. "Where is she," Riku growled as he looked away, to Hook's utmost relief. "I've been waiting for almost _thirty minutes_."

Riku straightened from leaning against the wall. The rocking motion of the large ship was irritating him for some reason, but at the moment almost anything would. He wanted to get it over with and meet Maleficent.

"Calm down, dear Riku…" The witch seemed to always arrive on queue, which Riku also found greatly annoying. He knew that drawling womanly voice all too well. Riku sharply turned around, immediately meeting face to face with the towering dark woman. Maleficent raised her brows, as though she hadn't expected his look of extreme lividness. He'd be damned if the woman would ever fool him.

"_Calm down_?" Riku wanted to laugh, but instead he shouted those words. "Those Heartless attacked me…_and you want me to calm down_?" He thrashed his fist against the wall, effectively leaving a fairly large portion of it splintered and cracking. Captain Hook watched slightly startled in the sidelines, wisely not having a say in the growing argument.

Maleficent languidly narrowed her eyes, apparently unfazed by his sudden outburst. Riku continued to glare, hoping desperately that his look of contempt would burn the dark witch to a crisp. "It wasn't after _you_, boy, no…" She explained while strutting leftward as though she were about to walk a circle around him, very much like a tiger would do its kill, "I sent them to take the _girl_."

There was a long, uncomfortable and deadly silence that fell within the room, one in which Captain Hook had believed that the silver-haired boy would pounce upon Maleficent and start trying to claw at her with his young bare hands. Riku certainly gave that impression after the dark witch had said that. It was a somewhat frightening image that had imbedded itself onto Hook's mind, but then again he wasn't very fond of the bossy old woman either.

Riku's usually pale complexion had become redder than it had ever been in his life, and it was solely out of anger. "_What_?" Although his voice was soft, the tone felt as though a freezing cold stalactite had embedded itself into the core of the atmosphere. Riku's hand seemed to twitch wistfully. He wanted so desperately to summon the Oblivion, so much that he was actually visualizing ways of slashing up Maleficent.

"Her heart is pure, Riku. She may be one of the seven Princesses of Heart…" Maleficent explained, unaware of Riku's devious thoughts. "She can't possibly…" Riku tried to counter. The thought of it, however, seemed to strike him, and he realized that he had never considered it before. The possibility of Serenity being _that_ sort of Princess? He could always see her as pure of heart, she held all the qualities; she was kind, happy, and…beautiful. All the traits seemed to fit. He wished it hadn't.

"Think, Riku. Finding the seven princesses…" Maleficent smirked inwardly as she spoke on, catching the dimly distressed look upon Riku's eyes. "…may return your precious Kairi." She seemed to hit a tender spot, for Riku had let out a small gasp, and he was frozen in place from then on. Riku didn't even seem to have the need to blink any longer.

"No," He murmured at last, his silver bangs swaying to hide his eyes. "She isn't…she can't be." Maleficent frowned, "Oh?" Riku turned to leave, and walked away. "I came there for one reason only...to find Kairi's heart. Its not there," He confirmed as he paused in front of the door to the Captain's chambers. "I'm abandoning the place. Don't interfere in _my_ projects."

"Is that an excuse? In a sense, Serenity could _help_ find Kairi," Maleficent scowled. "I don't care about the stupid princesses! I'll find my _own_ way of getting Kairi's heart back, and it would have nothing to do with that Lunarian girl," Riku snapped, sharply glancing over his shoulder. "If finding Kairi's heart means hurting Serenity's, then _I will find another way_." Maleficent gave another deep look of anger, but thought better of countering. She couldn't risk losing Riku's trust. She needed him for her later plans. Narrowing her eyes, she gave a wicked smile, forcefully nodding her agreement.

**-**

The lunar utopia seemed perfect and humble, as though sin and taint had never touched its sleek marble surface. It was hard to believe that miles away darkness claimed a vast acre. The Dark Forest was a place were minor demon's and creatures dwelled, sneering and scowling in the shadows as weak shreds of light peered through the thick curling plant life.

Reye was privately envious of the moon. Her home planet, Mars, lived only on deserts and volcanic mountains. It was nothing like the moon, why wouldn't she feel at least a pinch of jealousy? But she also loved the moon, and most of all was the Dark Forest. It was the one place where she and her Martian fellows would go for the hunt. Now normally it was unusual for someone to like such a grotesque-looking area, but it was her tradition as predator and soldier of Mars to train and enhance her skills, and the perfect training and hunting area was the Dark Forest. And what better prey than demons, who were next to useless to the moon?

"You hear that?" A blonde Martian boy dressed in a ninja-like garb turned his head to the direction of the north, catching the interests of his comrades. "Sounds like a harpy," a dark-haired Martian girl commented eagerly, trying in vain to peer through the dense trees. "You guys go for the harpy," Reye ordered casually, "I'll go south. I've already managed to kill off three ogres. Harpy's are less of a challenge."

"Don't showoff," the ninja-garbed Martian boy said, smirking. Reye snorted. "I will. Because unlike you, Naruto,_ I_ am an experienced soldier of my people, and _you're_ mediocre." The Martian girl beside Reye began to giggle. "Ooh, that was harsh," She laughed, pointing a forefinger at Naruto. "Excuse me, Akane, but at least I'm not considered _barely_ a level-one threat, or so the Masters say!" Naruto countered. Akane huffed, blushing angrily. "Stop criticizing meyou—you _boy_!" She roared, looking ready to kill. "Whatcha gonna do, throw a gymnastic ribbon at me?" Naruto taunted, blowing a rather loud raspberry.

"That Harpy's waiting," Reye reminded, carefully examining her sleek fingernails, while Akane had paused from nearly strangling Naruto's neck. Grudgingly, the two left, still bickering as the leaped from treetop to treetop. The Martian princess sighed as she walked along the murky wet dirt road. In truth, it barely disserved to be called a road, where there was hardly any more space than it was with the curling branches, which looked as though they would reach out and grab her at any given opportunity. It had always given her that impression back in the days when she was only eight.

Reye walked through an elevated mud-sodden slope, by nature formed as a borderline for the center of oil-black water upon a mammoth pond. As she did so, she took in the quirk of counting down the many Flying Leeches that tried to leap up and cling themselves onto her legs. They weren't literally flying, but they fling themselves so high into the air that the name seemed catchy.

"Huh?" Reye paused suddenly, inches from reaching the other side of the pond, and strained her ears desperately. She could have sworn she heard a distant _quaking_ noise at a certain distance. Reye shook her head vigorously, as though she were trying to clear her mind of such vain suspicion. There was no way that ducks could ever survive in the Dark Forest, and if one was to somehow end up there, it would probably get eaten in less than thirty minutes.

"Hello…?" Reye called out slowly, amethyst-colored eyes staring through the density surrounding her. The silence that responded only annoyed her, adding on more weight to her suspicions. She knew something was there, and the sound left her curious. Grunting at her reckless curiosity that she would never openly admit, she took one determined step forward. The moment her forefoot patted the wet dirt before her, she disappeared, using her speed to run through branches and narrow gaps.

"Wahhhhh! Get me _outta_ here!" Donald the duck screamed, the feathers on his face mingling with the angry blush rising up his cheeks. "Heeelp," Goofy cried. The magician duck was wrapped painfully tight within pale silk-like webs that held together and cocooned him from neck to toe, the exterior as hard as steel. Goofy was still running in circles with his arms thrashing against the air, being chased by several spiders that were the size of basketballs.

Reye lifted one finely-shaped brow. It seemed that the supposed shrill quaking was just an unusual and tempered-looking white creature that attained the uncanny resemblance to a duck, one who spoke as though it had only been given a terribly vague idea on how to speak proper English. Then there was the even more bizarre black doglike creature that ran frenziedly on two legs. It almost seemed as though its frontal legs were replaced with arms and paws with usable thumbs. And, just when Reye thought these things would finally cease to confuse her, she at last noted that they wore _clothes_, and brightly-colored unusual ones at that.

Reye could've laughed at the sight, for this was the strangest creatures she had ever seen within the Dark Forest and were the most foolish-looking, in spite of the situation being very rare and out of the blue. But there was no time for that. Not when there was dozens of large spiders clear on her sight. Smirking, she placed her left arm stiff in front of her as if holding a rod, and then she took her free arm and made a move as though she was going to pull an invisible string. Blood-red flame emerged from either of her hands, spinning into a bow and arrow of fire. As she let go of the flamed arrow's feathery end, the sharp tip darted past every one of the spiders. But even there accurate dodging did not help the eight-legged creatures, for the intensity of the flamed arrow was strong enough to burn them all into a crisp without contact.

**-**

"Princess?"

Serenity could hear the voice, but she pretended it wasn't there. All she wanted to do was stare out into the orange depth of horizon as the sun began to steadily settle itself over the hilltops and mountainsides, thinking of the omen that was her dream. She didn't know why, but it was unfair to know that she couldn't be with her friend Sora any more, even when it concerned his safety. Serenity shook her head; she was being too selfish. Why did the right things have to feel so unjust for her at the moment? "It's not fair," She brooded, putting her full attention upon the sunrise to try and subdue the thought.

She had never experienced such a beautiful sight, and it helped that she was in one of the highest balconies. Although Earth's kingdom was nothing compared to her own marble palace, there were certain natural qualities that the Earth itself attained which had a beauty that rivaled the moon. "Serenity…?" She couldn't ignore the voice now, not when a hand had rested heavily on her shoulder. She glanced up at the stranger, her face mimicking mild surprise. "Prince Endymion," Serenity regarded him hollowly with a sideways glance.

Endymion stared down at her questionably. "Is this where you've been all this time?" He asked. "Yes," Serenity replied quietly. Endymion frowned, seeing that the blonde Lunarian seemed reluctant to stare at him. "I…was just wondering why you didn't come to the gardens the other day. One of the maids said you had left your room." He recalled, raptly staring at her. "Oh…that." She blushed, "forgive me. I…was very impatient, and wanted to explore the kingdom myself." Serenity then frowned, "…does that disappoint you?" Endymion shook his head, grinning, "Not at all. In fact, why don't we go explore the kingdom? This time, together."

Serena inwardly frowned at the hand Endymion had offered for her to take. She didn't feel like going anywhere for some reason. And to think two days ago she was ecstatic to finally travel to the one place that she had always dreamed of, when now all she wanted to do was sit in her chambers and worry. "I…" Serenity knew she was being hesitant; the problem was she didn't know why.

"Serenity!" Both royalties turned immediately. "Sora?" Serenity blinked, ignoring the slight jovial skip her heart had suddenly made. She would've felt relieved if not for the recent omen that weighed her thoughts. "Sora," Endymion mimicked thoughtfully, narrowing his eyes as he sized down the young man that eagerly approached the flaxen princess. "Serenity, I'm glad I found you. You've _gotta_ go to the dining room. It's _huge_, and the breakfast there is the best," Sora quipped, closing his fingers around Serenity's palm and pulling her forward beckoningly.

Serenity almost angrily pulled her hand away from him, as though his touch had seared it. "No…" Those words seemed to have quite an impact on Sora than she had first anticipated, and immediately afterwards she had to desperately control herself from apologizing. He seemed very startled with her negative response, silenced by that one decline, but it was obvious he had the will to surprises his unsettlement.

Sora pursed his lips, brows drawing together, "Okay…then maybe we could go by the beach later? I could teach you about it, since the moon doesn't have any oceans." Sora's eyes were privately questioning her on her behavior. Serenity did not feel comfortable when he tired to search her eyes; obviously she turned away, having a sudden interest in a dove that had just soared by the veranda. It was odd, how she felt as though just by standing an arms length from Sora might endanger him. "No…I'm really busy. I didn't really come here just to enjoy the scenery, you know," Serenity chided tonelessly. She winced mentally. That was certainly unlike her. To enjoy a day of fun on the earth rather than do all work and no play, she would usually agree in a heartbeat. Even without looking at him she knew he was skeptical.

"Hello, Endymion!" Mina had come skipping towards the Earth Prince. "Oh," Endymion frowned at the blonde stranger. "Hello. And…who are you?" Mina smiled widely, an almost devious glint in her pale eyes. "Princess Mina of Venus, of course," She announced. She grabbed his arm onto hers and began dragging him away from the two. "Now, I would like to discuss with you of Valentines! You know, _my_ people also celebrate that ritual. _Twice_ a week, really…" Mina's voice steadily down died as she dragged the helpless prince into the halls, rapt in conversation.

What the Earth Prince didn't know was that the blond Venusians had been peering in on the conversation with Serenity and Sora from behind a pillar, and was growing very suspicious. Mina had decided that the Earth Prince was the key to their discomfort, and with that she had rushed in to take the burdensome young man so they would finally be social again. Mina, however, was oblivious to the true reason, and so was Sora.

_Oh, no…_ Serenity thought. She had feared that Sora would corner her; she just hadn't expected it to act so soon. "I…gotta go!" She said in her panic, running off towards the opposite hall. "hey, w-wait," Sora called, trying to take hold of her hand once more, but she had sprinted off as though she were she were a frightened hare.

Sora had never saw Serenity as a girl who would be so blunt as to decline anything, not to him anyway. She was always polite, and no doubt she would have agreed on something like a breakfast buffet. Perhaps he wasn't use to being denied by her when she had never done such a thing until now. Something was bothering her, he imagined. Was she mad at him? Did he do something wrong to mortally upset her without even noticing it? The very thought unnerved him. Sora was worried.

"What happened?" questioned Mina, after he had happened to find her pillaging around columns, "Where's Serenity?" He would've ignored her question and ask why she was prowling around instead, but he didn't feel as curious now that he was too deep in concern. "She ran away…say, where's that tall guy?" Sora was referring to the prince that had accompanied Serenity when he had at last found her, but he really didn't care if the older boy was royalty or not anymore.

Mina gave a sheepish grin. "I think he ran away from me—wait, what do ya mean _she ran away_?" She added demandingly. "I don't know…" Sora frowned, "Hey…Mina?" Mina stared at him, brows furrowed; she could sense that something was bothering the young boy. "Yes? 'Something wrong?" She replied, slowly frowning. "Do you think I did something to make Serenity mad?" He told her, after a few hesitated pauses.

Mina was startled, pale blue eyes widening. Sora lowered his head, staring at the floor with a thoughtful frown. "I really never intended for her to suddenly hate me, really," He said quickly, as though trying to convince the Venusians girl. But Sora did not need to convince Mina. "Wait right here," She said, her usually sweet voice sharpened with a demanding edge.

**-**

Donald scowled at the stout black leech that tried to leap onto the high muddy border. Behind the tempered duck Goofy peered curiously into the water, gasping occasionally as Flying Leeches leaped out of certain places he happened to be staring at. "Don't lean in too close. The Flying Leeches of the Dark Forest can sense body heat, and immediately flinging themselves in masses," Reye warned as she noticed Goofy nearly stick his nose into the murky liquid, though sounding conversational. Donald pulled the gentle knight up by the collar before several leeches were able to cling onto his face, berating Goofy with scolding.

Reye smirked. The two partners were very harebrained. Both were completely different, and yet they still remained tolerant of one another. One was hot-tempered, serious and self-righteous, while the other was kind, clumsy and curious. This reminded Reye very much of her friendship with Serenity. The similarities were so uncanny, though, that she was comparing herself and Serenity to an easily-angered duck and a dog on two legs.

"Where are we going?" She heard the duck, Donald, ask. The magician did little to hide his suspicion and distrust. "To the moon palace…" Reye was not sure why she was brining two creatures to the palace, but they were definitely foreign. They didn't seem of any harm, not compared to her, that was obvious. And she hadn't done anything generous in a long time either, perhaps providing the two oddballs shelter would do.

"Shouldn't we ask her? Maybe Sora's at the palace she's talking about," Goofy suggested quietly, leaning downward to whisper properly into Donald's ear. Donald Snorted. "No! She can't be trusted," declared the duck. The gentle knight frowned. "Are you sure? I mean, she saved our lives and everything," He countered eagerly. "And what about the Heartless' we escaped from earlier? We should really warn them of the Heartless." This was very reasonable, and one would only be absolute to deny this fact. "Glad I thought of it," Donald said, looking proud. Goofy smiled, nodding vigorously. But after a moment of taking in what the duck said, he furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Listen, little girl," Donald announced loudly to Reye. The Martian girl glance over her shoulders, brows furrowed as she glared down at the duck. However she did not retort, and only waited on what he would say. "Did you find anyone other than us that weren't from here?" Goofy asked politely. Donald nodded vigorously.

Reye narrowed her eyes. "Hmmm. There was a boy…" She trailed, tapping her index finger against her chin in thought. "And?" Donald demanded. Reye scowled at the magician's impatience, "He had unkempt brown hair, barely presentable if you ask me. And this incredibly ridiculous clothes. He looked like an idiot with those oversized yellow sneakers," Reye frowned in distaste at the thought, "It's a good thing we gave him _normal_ clothes…" even Reye herself had a better taste in clothing, and it was usually the least of her priorities.

Goofy smiled gleefully. "That's him!" He cheered. Donald glared at the knight's ignorance.

**-**

**-**

XD short chapter, I know. I bet this was really boring for you, eh? Sorry, but I had to post _something_. This, well, it'll just help you understand the next chapter…I think. If there'll _be_ a next chapter—only kidding (or am I?). Eventually…

**Important**: _You better start bringing in your votes on the pairing, or your hopes will be fruitless!_ Sorry…gotta be blunt. :D

**Angel-Goddess**: I like Sora, too! XD He just seems so adorable and innocent. You don't see that many RPG hero's anymore, hmm? But the majority of the readers prefer Riku with Serenity _Pouts. _I'll put a slightly fluffy scene with Sora and Serenity, though. :D Because I still enjoy that couple! Besides, votes are still in. Maybe if I get enough polls, Sora will end up with her! Ah, seems like you're not too fond with Kairi, eh? Heh, well, she is very complicated in my opinion. It is a bit harsh to be all, "Hey Sora, lets go sail the raft and _forget all about_ Riku!" That was when I just stared and said, "_what_?" it was like she was going to betray him or something. Grumbles teh, I guess you can't judge a book by its cover… err, wow! _Me_ better than _you_? Your stories are famous! Ah, I prefer being modest, makes me feel like I hadn't upset anyone by being smug. Ever get that feeling? Well, hoped you enjoyed this chapter, though it isn't all that eventful. I think I improved on my writing style just a bit.

**Sara**: all right, I rock! Thanks for the compliment. I know that Riku isn't acting all evil, but he didn't really expect to start having an interest in Serenity when he was really supposed to try and figure out a way to get Kairi's heart back. Heh, talk about fickle, ne? And your questions, well I can't spoil anything. But I can say that one of your guesses is quite correct! XD hah, yes, poor little Sora. Why do I enjoy putting my favorite characters in such agonizing positions? Hmm, must be an "author thing". Yeah, that might be it. Thank you very much for your compliments! Well, I just have to try and update to keep you sane, eh? Lol.

**Phoenix Bakura**: Thanks! And as for your question? I'm not sure. You're gonna have to vote on the pairing. That okay for ya? Thanks again for the compliments. Hehe, I love it when people think this fic is cute. Just makes me want have a giggle-fit!

**Azrealya**: Why, you're so very welcome! You enjoyed that chapter, yeah? Oh, Endy and Serenity? Well, he'll just be in the way, but Serenity does have a vague interest in him. She's a bit too distracted to regard him all that much, as you can see in this chapter. Too tired, huh? Well, I haven't slept for more than twenty four hours for the past three days, so I know how you feel. I've been a little restless lately, probably because my mind is too alert to rest.

Restless, tired, and grouchy! ;) —S. Nestor


	14. Chapter 14: Redheaded Omen Revealed

**Chapter Fourteen**: Redheaded Omen Revealed

_Italics _– thinking or noise or emphasis

"Quotation marks" – speaking

**---**

**---**

Smoldering blue eyes glared at her, pursed lips pressed together in contempt, and a once beautiful face appeared nothing but a depressingly petty feature, all pointing at her, blaming her in the worst way: silently. She knew that it was her fault that the person staring at her appeared that way. When she blinked, those very same glaring blue eyes followed suit, and when she furrowed her brows, the depressed face would move in unison.

Her reflection was like her conscience, staring at her in the face with a reproachful look. She could see her eyes, gleaming with inner turmoil and sadness and anger, and she was growing irritated with the look. Her face was impassive, making her appear as though she was a whole different person all together. This was not her…she couldn't recognize the hollow reflection. It scared her.

And then, she decided with finality that she was going to get rid of her mirror some time soon.

Serenity stared at her vanity mirror as she smoothed the brush over her hair, her movements in deliberate and yet unnecessarily slow motions. She was too deep in thought to worry over tangles and split ends, apparently.

_Thump. _

_Thump. _

_Thump... _

She wanted to be isolated for the rest of the day—for her entire stay on Earth if she could. You'd think that when a person locked their door someone would get the hint and simply go away on the first try. But the rapping on her chamber door was slow yet persistent, as though promising certain doom if not attended to promptly. Serenity began to decide whether to leave the person unacknowledged or to at least open the door to see what the matter was. _Thump…thump…thump… _the rapping seemed much louder to her ears, growing infuriating still, and it was hard to think on her decisions with such insistent commotion.

With a controlled rage, she groaned and placed her brush a bit too hard against the wooden surface of the vanity counter. It shook from the sudden impact, but she did not notice as she brewed up a storm upon treading toward the double doors of her chamber suite.

Serenity smoothed down the skirt of her dress first, calming down stiffly as she unlocked the elegant brass clasps of the door. Before she was able to open it, however, it was pulled ajar on its own. Serenity blinked, and she thought for a moment that she was looking at her insufferable mirror yet again. The glaring blue eyes and pursed lips were uncannily identical, if not a tad shade lighter in complexion.

"Mina…" Serenity said slowly, almost tensely. She didn't notice she was taking steps backwards until she was an even yard away from the Venusian blonde. Venus's princess certainly appeared upset at the moment, although Serenity didn't have the faintest idea why—or, more specifically, she did not intend to know.

"What is your _problem_?" Mina burst loudly, almost whining, amusing Serenity with the childish quirk of stomping her foot against the plush carpet with a dramatic point of sulky exasperation. "Careful," Serenity teased gently, "That's genuine crystal velvet…" She became a little more aware of the seriousness of the situation when she saw that Mina did not crack a smile, only glaring boringly into her. The usually-lovable girl refused to hold any positive emotion towards Serenity.

Serenity rolled her eyes, her previous depression temporarily forgotten. She focused on her pouting friend. "What is it, Mina? If you're looking for your brush, it's over th—"

"I don't want the brush, I want to know why you just left Sora there and treated him like that!"

Serenity froze, and again she felt the crawling fingers of cold, cold dread work its way through her body. She hugged herself without thinking, feeling guilty and insecure. "What do you mean…?" She distracted, hoping to let the Venusians mind wander to something else by the end of this conversation.

"You know what I mean…" Mina's annoyed demeanor seemed to revert to complete solemnity, and Serenity almost had a hard time believing that the Venusian's minor tantrum had began only seconds before. She growled to herself in frustration, whipping around. With a concentrated frown, she calmed herself enough to think up a lie, "The earthling has an unrequited infatuation with me…unfortunately…" Her own words seemed vile in even her ears, the tone of her voice repulsively stoic. She repressed the impulse to gag.

Mina was, clearly, startled by the coldly blunt response. And, although she considered slapping the lunar princess across the face for saying such a thing, she still kept in mind that Serenity's behavior was certainly unusual. The blonde Lunarian never said anything purposely negative, _ever_. It was then that Mina realized there was something more to Serenity's behavior—something, perhaps, that had forced the poor blonde to avoid Sora.

And then, a sense of powerful realization struck her.

Mina gasped, her eyes widening. She lifted her arm and pointed her index finger at Serenity in an exaggerated accusation, "You…you're two-timing him, aren't you?" She squealed, appearing both shocked and awed.

"_What_?" Serenity nearly fell over. "How…how can you say that? Two-timing? Two-timing _how_?" She demanded, blood teeming into her cheeks without her knowing.

Mina ignored her, engrossed in what she thought was convincing Serenity to not 'cheat' on the brunette earthling boy. "Oh, but you can't! _Really_, I would've expected better of you!" She brought the back of her hand up to feel her forehead in a dramatic pose, looking as if she were near faint. "I just can't allow it! I won't! He really loves you, Serenity!"

Something snapped within the blonde Lunarian…

"AND WHAT DO _YOU_ KNOW ABOUT LOVE?" Serenity burst out of the blue, her eyes watery, but tears did not come as she sliced an arm across the air to silence the Venusian vixen. "You've never even been in love! The closest thing to a real relationship you ever had been with that_ commoner_ Ace." She hadn't meant to seem so prejudice, and the moment she had realized her words she covered her mouth with both her hands and gasped. Ace, though not necessarily of royalty, was a Venusian soldier, and Serenity never once had a time where she thought he was beneath her.

Mina blushed at the mention of the Venusian warrior she had once had an 'escapade' with. That was just a phase, really. However, her lack of suitors was not entirely true. She blushed deeper still upon recalling the handsome silver-haired Earth general that she had met the night of the welcoming ball, General Malachite.

Serenity thrust her face into her hands and sat down on the closest thing around her, which was the canopy bed. She was not crying, she was only frustrated—at least, that was what she told herself. But the tears never came, and that was proof enough.

Mina sat next to the upset blonde, and set her anger aside immediately to be replaced with sympathy. "What _is_ wrong?" To be honest, she had no clue as to why Serenity acted this way. She had just needed to get _some_ information out of her, if not all. This seemed like the perfect opportunity. She would praise her saintly acting skills later...

"Nothing…" Serenity straitened until she was as still as a floorboard. "He just won't leave me alone—"

"Who…?"

"Sora!"

She was lying again. Mina was an exceptional actor, but Serenity was a much better liar.

_Dammit…this is just going to continue in vain!_ Mina thought, frowning and giving a secret reproachful look at Serenity. And then an idea decided to dive into her conscience. She grinned almost catlike, and then made it a point to make Serenity notice that self-satisfied grin. She whipped her golden hair, almost hitting Serenity, and widened her grin still.

Despite her resolve, Serenity let her guard down for the sake of curiosity. "What's your problem?" _Why so moody? Is it that time of the month for you?_ She wanted to add, but bit her lip hard and decided against it. She was slowly getting annoyed of the Venusian's antics.

"Nothing…" Mina may have said so, but she turned around so her back faced Serenity. "But, since he's so annoying for you, I guess he's now on the market, no?"

"_Excuse_ me?" Serenity leaned back, her brows lifting in a skeptic expression. She shook her head, trying to see where this was getting at. "He was never _off_ the market to begin with!"

"Well, he's so adorable!" Mina feigned. "Such an eyecandy! I've been eyeing him ever since. I would've thought you'd notice by now!" Mina dismissed, waving a hand as if to say that Serenity's opinion in the matter didn't and wouldn't be of any importance.

Serenity thought for a moment, wondering why for a very short moment she felt the childish possessiveness to retort and say, "He's _mine_!"

She blinked. That was the strangest two seconds of her life. But that also brought up the matter of her redheaded omen… swallowing hard, Serenity looked away as she said, without thinking, "It wouldn't matter anyway…he's in love with someone else." The lunarian maverick was left wide-eyed as she realized what she had just said. _Oh_ _snap…_

Mina raised her index finger pointedly towards Serenity, and the lunarian herself felt sheepish and defeated. "Ah-_hah_! So _that's_ what's been bothering you…" She paused, realizing that that was a really big thing. "HE'S IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE _ELSE_?" The vixen exclaimed, both shocked and enraged. "So _he's_ the two-timer! Oh, not Sora, I'd never expect Sora!" She pulled at her hair in frustration, "Where did I go _wrong_? I had _everything _planned out for the two of you…! All my hard work…for nothing!" She mumbled to herself in what she misguidedly thought was a quiet whisper.

Serenity sweatdropped, but she caught on with what the Venusian was loudly mumbling about and became curious—and suspicious. "Had _what _planned out for us, exactly?" She grated out, her lips contorting in annoyance. A tiny vain throbbed at the lunarian princess's temple: the sign of her impending fury upon which Mina had predicted was to eventually come.

"Umm…" Mina sweatdropped, trying to laugh in a vain attempt to put a damper upon the frightening mood. She ended up stuttering a little squeak of a sheepish laugh. Coughing into her sleeve, she put on a somber look and stared directly into Serenity's eyes, which remained smoldering. Nearly faltering, Mina swallowed and tried not to whimper. Serenity sure was an imposing young woman when she wanted to be, traits undoubtedly from her mother.

And then, "Look, that's not important right now. Tell me, who's this girl Sora's been two-timing with?" Given a new resolve, Mina was determined to haunt Sora until his dying day so long as he forever regretted ever putting a damper in her plans.

Seeing the look on Mina's face, Serenity suggested, "Maybe you should stop bothering others and start thinking about _you're _relationships?" She hadn't meant it as an insult, just out of concern. The young woman was becoming quite obsessed with other people's love lives.

Mina noticed that and wasn't offended at the very least. Her relationship, she predicted—and hoped—was about to blossom with the help of a decidedly _hot_ silver-haired earth general. Mina shook the giddiness out of her and became somber again, save for the small red hues that developed on her cheeks. "But yours is much more important, Serenity! You might never see Sora again!" Mina reasoned.

"What do you mean?" Serenity said. She stood up abruptly, staring down at her fellow blonde with a rigid frown. "You forget that he doesn't live here, Serenity. And I don't suppose he ever will permanently. He's going to get homesick sooner or later, and he _does _need to save all of dimensions," Mina frowned at her own words…Mina didn't want to believe it were true either, even when it practically screamed honesty in her conscience. Sora was like the goofy, unassuming little brother she never had.

"Oh…" Serenity had almost forgotten that Sora had such a burden. He not only carried the world, but several other dimensional worlds on his shoulders. But, thinking of her dream, Serenity considered this for a moment more critically. _The farther away he is from me, the less likely he's going to be hurt_… "That's a _good _thing, isn't it? He'd want to go home, so we should let him go!" She added, flailing up her hands in aggravation.

Mina growled at the Lunarian's stubbornness, closing her eyes in hopes to calm herself. Ignoring what the lunar princess had just said, she coaxed: "You still haven't answered my question! _Who—is—this—girl_?"

---

There was something there that wasn't suppose to be, a brief flash of brilliant purple that had been caught at the corner of her eyes.

Amy blinked. _What was that?_ She had been studying the Blue Roses of the Secret Garden when a glimpse of color had reflected off her glasses. She glanced around the grass, and then at the shrubbery. Again, she noticed that small twinkle of deep purple in the grey shadows near a loop of roots. Putting down her sketchpad upon the glass garden table, she shoved her seat back and went over to the shadows. The roots were steep, curling together to make a dark pit that could've been thirty feet deep for all she knew.

_There's something down there…_ Amy, being an inquisitive intellect, was anxious to know what exactly the strange glitter at the bottom of that pit was, and how it could create such a shine that managed to reach outside its very dark burrow. The purple flash was gone now, she noticed. Amy dared to dip her hand into the hole and, feeling no solid ground, stuck her whole arm into the dark hole. Finally, after shoving her shoulder in too, she felt dirt and small baby roots. Amy growled slightly as her hand searched aimlessly, already pressing her face against the roots in hopes to reach deeper.

Suddenly, something hard and bulbous touched the tip of her fingers. Overexcited, she accidentally hit her head against an especially large root that loomed over her as she tried to haul it out. Seeing inky swirls hover over her eyes, she closed her fingers once more around the unknown object and hauled (this time a bit more carefully) her arm out, falling on her back in the process.

"Oooow…"

She held up the object to her face. It looked like some strange bricklike puzzle.

"Hey! Look, Donald, the nice blue-haired alien found another Gummi block!"

"Never trust little girls with strange hair, Goofy!"

She glanced at the direction of the very strangely-accented voices, and her eyes went as wide as they would allow, which was the size of china saucers. What came running up to her looked to be a two-legged dog with green and brown _clothes_—strange clothes, at that, with pockets and zippers too many to count, even on its hat. He carried a very impressive indigo shield, with a silver childlike symbol of a mouse at its pristine center. Behind the bipedal canine looked like a white-feathered duck gone wild, quaking reproachfully and huffing and raising a small staff in warning, albeit also sporting unusual sense of clothing. The clothes didn't look _that _strange, but the fact that an earthen dog and a duck were wearing it made it seem bizarre.

Amy roused herself off the ground and stood ready, but she did not expect the two foreign creatures to be of any harm.

The doggish creature stopped at least a comfortable yard from Amy and smiled cheerfully. "Gawrsh! Thanks a lot, Missy! Uh-yuh!" Amy blinked wide eyes, one corner of her lips stretching into a nervous smirk. The dog talked weird, like some sort of jester or clown. It opened his gloved paw—it looked more like actual human fingers to Amy though, even if it was a bit more swollen. She was clueless for only a nanosecond—because Amy was not slow in registering things, of course—and glanced down at the brick she held in one hand. "This…?" She said slowly, lifting the purple metal brick up to her face. It nodded happily, its thin drooping ears flapping noisily. The humanoid dog guffawed, and Amy almost ran for it. The dog laughed weird, very _goofily_. It embarrassed her just being around the unassuming creature. But it looked like an entire new species of bipedal canines! Amy, out of courtesy, resisted the urge to ask, "May I _examine_ you please?" which usually meant test-tubes and needles and beakers…what fun!

But something about the doggy creature's nature reminded her of someone. She grinned and decided to giggle along with it. She then offered the purple brick to it wholeheartedly, smiling. "This is yours, apparently. I suppose you'd want it back," She said politely.

"Thanks! The names Goofy by the way, and that's Donald all the way down here—OW!" Goofy was kicked in the chins by his shorter companion, who bristled beside the dog's long foreleg, his feathers prickling. "Goofy. Hehe, it's unusually fitting for you." Amy giggled some more.

Donald sized the blue-haired girl up and down with a critical eye, and then looked away with a cross of his wing-like arms and a huff. She dressed strange, with her indecently short blue skirt, tight white leotard, sissy blue bow and brooch at the middle of her chest, a simple tiara on her head, blue boots surrounding her entire foreleg up to her knees, unnecessary bows at the small of her back, and finally long white gloves. It wasn't _that_ unusual, but the fact that she looked far too young to be wearing such a thing made it seem _weird_.

"Ah, Princess Amy of Mercury, I see you've met the two stooges. Now if only Sora were here, it'd be a complete group…" Raye stepped out from a hall of rosebushes. "I'm keeping a close watch on these two," She explained, "You see, they're permitted to wander around the entire utopia to find their aircraft's essential parts to get out of here, and, although I _do_ want them very badly to get the hell outta here, I don't trust them." The duck gave an almost animalistic growl, glaring. Reye returned the gesture with her own smoldering gaze. Donald was remarkably good at staring matches, it seemed, and was holding his ground in spite of his height.

"Hello, Raye," Amy smiled pleasantly, and wearily, though already getting tired of the dark-haired warrior princess. She did not feel comfortable with Raye's cynical air. It scared her sometimes. That didn't affect Raye at all, though; in fact, Raye would've loved to know that she had induced fear once again as a mighty warrior as far as she knew. But Amy wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of knowing that, mainly because she was too afraid that Raye would take advantage of that knowledge. Martians aren't always humble when they don't want to be. It's in their nature. No one could blame them. And Mercurians were not at all good with war, at least not physically, but they very well knew their armor and weapon technology, and that was what kept them one of the most powerful and prosperous planets in the Milky Way galaxy.

"Take us to Shora!" Donald suddenly demanded, "We haff to get out of here as shoon as poshible!"

"Shora?" Amy mused, a brow arched in an almost skeptical expression. "He means 'Sora'. You know, the wild-haired Earthling?" Raye informed nonchalantly, almost unheard over the sound of her sharpening her blade against a gargoyle. "Those are antiques!" Amy hollered, appalled. "_Pfft_. They're but hideous _rocks_…just like that pompous Earth up there." The Martian added the last six words more to herself. She resented mankind and their unfathomably countless flaws. In Amy's terms, the warrior princess of Mars was a misanthropist.

"Oh, the one who got away?"

Raye lifted a brow.

Amy shook her head, the faintest of blushes over her cheeks, "No, not like that! He ran away from the infirmary when I first met him. I was actually sort of worried…is he alright?"

Raye shrugged, her pose clearly saying, _"I could care less."_ Amy sighed. "He's fine, then," she concluded.

"WE HAFF TO GIVE SHORA THE KEYBLADE!" Donald had to jump with effort in order to get in a proper eyelevel with the much taller girls, flailing what looked to be an oversized key in one feathered hand. They continued to ignore him.

"So how's Serenity…?"

"The last time I saw her she was hyped up to go to that little rock…"

"Don't look so disgusted. Why must you be so prejudice against such a place? Personally, I think it's fascinating that they are so…mortal…"

"I don't care what you think. They're inept, ignorant little thorns that cut into one another and fight for all the most vile and dishonorable reasons: envy, lust, greed. All of it." Raye's eyes were smoldering. "Not one is for honor, hardly any for justice, and so little to due with what they truly need: peace."

"YOU ARE ALL CRAZY! GET ME TO SHORA!" Goofy was sure that his now-fiendish feathered friend was ready to pop a blood vessel. "Uhh," he tried to suggest, "Maybe we could go to that Earth place up there… The queen_ did_ say he went to visit."

"_And just how are we going to get there_?" Donald screamed, breathing very hard afterwards. "We haff to fix the gummi ship!"

"I could take you…"

---

"You still haven't answered my question! _Who_—_is_—_this_—_girl_?"

"Why do you care so much anyway?" Serenity moaned, plummeting down onto the peach-cream plush flooring, shifting her legs closer to her torso so she could hug them and bury her face into her folded arms. Mina easily slid down to sit alongside her friend from her place on the canopy bed, and inclined her head to at least try to look at Serenity in the face, to show her sincerity even as Serenity did not seem to want to permit her to. "Because you're unhappy. And as your friend I definitely don't like seeing you unhappy." _At least, that's partly why…_ Mina added musingly. But she really was sincere.

"It was just a dream. Sort of like an omen… A red-haired girl came to me, and we talked a little… She told me something bad will happen if I go near Sora, or something..." She looked up at her fellow blonde, "Do you think it should be taken seriously?"

Mina eyes were open and unblinking, her brows crinkled up, and her face basically unreadable. And then she blinked. "All that for a little _dream_?" She almost yelled, astonished. "You can never let a little nightmare get in the way of true love!" She added dramatically, standing up and balling her fist into the air for a better effect. Serenity sweatdropped. "I knew I shouldn't have told her that…" She mumbled quietly, as if to herself.

"Come on, princess. I'm gonna make sure you two make up!"

"Wha—? Ack!" Serenity was hauled by the Venusian vixen without as much as an inquiry. Mina made sure of that…

Just outside Serenity's balcony, Riku stood. And he had heard everything.

**--**

_**TBC**_

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**Author's Note**: HELLO THERE ONE AND ALL:) Before I get into anything I ask that you not KILL me with your searing Flames of utter loathing for my lethargic pase in updating. Do they still call it that? I feel old... How long has it been? 2 years? 3? I dunno, but I'm truly sorry. Things...came up. My computer died, then rose from the dead as a zombie, and tried to kill me... predicaments ensued...yeah... High school is crazy. It's like a roller-coaster ride that's way too long. At first it's insanely fun, and then it just drops and gets boring and exams come up and boys are freaken priority. Gawd I how _despise_ puberty...WHY DIDN'T YOU WARN ME? _-glares accusingly-_I guess I diserved it though.

ANYWAY:D This chapter is not much, I guess. But YAY! Goofie! And yeah, the duck too. And I no longer have Microsoft Word, so please forgive me If my spelling sux. x) Sorry. I'm only fifteen. But I don't think my writing has improved much. I still hate it.

_**THANK YOU ALL WHO REVIEWED AND REQUESTED THAT I CONTINUED THIS! I LOVE YOU ALL! HEARTS AND COOKIES FOR ALL!!1!1!ONE!1! **_

** 3** mOONY - AKA_ Moo-chan _


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